I Wanna Come Home
by Kelly of the midnight dawn
Summary: Postep for “Dependent” Kathy has been able to move on. What will Elliot do? Who will he turn to? Olivia of course. But when someone comes seeking revenge, will he let her stand by him or will he drive her away again? EO
1. Chapter 1

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Disclaimer: I don't own them and well I kind of wish I did.**

**A/N: So the end of tonight's episode got me really upset. I was online telling people how I was going to delete all my stories and that I had stopped believing in love. But then I realized that it's stuff like this that means that you have to believe even harder because if we stop believing then Dick Wolf wins and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let that self important ass win. LOL… can you tell that I've gotten all my anger out? Anyway, I wrote this to make everyone believe again.**

**A/N: This story is dedicated to Dramawitsvu17, SVU101 and freestyler9125 for listening to me bitch and trying to talk me out of deleting my stories. You guys are the best, thank you so much.**

He stood on the steps of a home that had once been his, bearing his soul to a woman who had also once been but was no longer. In the back of his mind he wondered what he was doing. He wanted his family back. He missed his kids. He missed knowing what was going on in their lives. He didn't miss Kathy though.

"I wanna come home," he admitted softly and watched the surprised expression on Kathy's face as her brow furrowed.

"Elliot," she began. She could hear the movement behind her and knew she had to get him to leave soon.

"Can I come in and talk?" Elliot asked but Kathy refused to budge.

"Now's not a good time," she explained, trying to keep the desperation out of her voice. What she was doing wasn't wrong but still, she knew it would hurt him if he knew.

And a moment later it was too late to protect Elliot's feelings. "Is everything okay?" the male voice interrupted the uncomfortable silence as the man's face appeared over Kathy's shoulder.

Kathy turned to him and blushed slightly "Yeah," she whispered uncomfortably. "Why don't you head back inside, I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay," the man whispered with a gentle kiss pressed to Kathy's cheek.

She turned back to Elliot, her eyes unable to meet his gaze; she knew the hurt she would see there. She cared about this man. She just didn't love him anymore. She knew that the only reason he wanted to be home was because of the children. She knew the divorce had been hard on the kids but there was no way she would stay in a loveless marriage simply for their children. "I'm sorry Elliot," she whispered "I've moved on."

"I'm happy for you," Elliot couldn't stay standing there. He turned and walked quickly back to his car as he felt tears sting his eyes. He slid into the driver's seat and stared back at the house. Kathy had gone back inside. He took a moment to compose himself before he started his car and drove back to his lonely little apartment.

He pulled up and noticed a familiar someone sitting on his front steps. He smiled softly to himself; ever since they had started working together, there was not a moment that he wasn't happy to see her. "Hey," he greeted as he stepped out of the car and walked towards her.

She looked up and smiled "Hey," she whispered. She had been sitting there a while, wondering if he was even home. She didn't know why but she wanted to be near him.

He sat down on the stoop beside her. He subconsciously scooted closer to her as a gust of wind chilled him slightly. "Melinda told me that you yelled at her," he grinned slyly.

"She was wrong," Olivia stated plainly.

"Yeah," Elliot nodded. He slid his hand across the concrete until it made contact with hers "Thanks for sticking by me."

"You're my partner," she said simply even though deep down, she knew it was more than that.

They sat in silence for a while before Elliot spoke next. "I went to see Kathy tonight."

"Oh," Olivia whispered. She tried not to be hurt by the thought of Elliot going to see the woman who had left him. She still remembered when Kathy had called her a few weeks ago. She had told Olivia that a piece of paper didn't stop you from caring about someone but Olivia thought that if Kathy truly cared, she wouldn't have left in the first place. Elliot was the sweetest man that Olivia had ever known and she couldn't imagine how anyone could stand to hurt him so deeply by taking away his family.

"I asked if I could come home," he admitted. Elliot had no idea why he was telling her this but for some reason he just kept going "She was with another man. She's moved on."

"Oh," Olivia said again. If Elliot had been hurt before, she knew that he must have been torn apart to see his ex-wife with another man. "El, I'm so sorry," her fingers wrapped around his hand and squeezed gently.

Elliot looked at Olivia in the light cast by a nearby lamp post. For a moment he almost thought of moving on himself with Olivia if only to show Kathy up. But he dismissed that thought quickly. It wasn't fair to Olivia. He didn't know exactly what he felt for her these days but he knew that it wasn't fair to use her simply to hurt Kathy. She was his partner, she was his friend, whether or not they could be more, he wasn't ready to know the answer yet.

Olivia shivered. The night air had dropped at least ten degrees in the time that they'd been talking. She stood up "I should probably get going."

Elliot stood up as well. He watched her turn away and wondered if he was ready to let another good thing slip through his fingers. She had taken only two steps when he called out to her "You wanna come up for a cup of tea?"

She turned and smiled "Sure," she walked back to where Elliot stood and the two of them walked inside together.

**A/N: So that's it. Not full on romance but enough to light the flames of belief again I hope. It's awful when something shakes your faith but if you can get past it, that faith becomes stronger than ever.**


	2. Chapter 2

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 2:**

**A/N: Yeah, it's another post-ep that I got a little carried away with but I promise it'll be worth it. Plus, I think we all need a little more healing and what better way to heal than some EO drama that doesn't involve Kathy at all? I hope you all enjoy and please review.**

Olivia smiled softly as she rolled over. Her eyes fluttered open and in and she suddenly realized where she was. She sat bolt upright. She looked beside her where Elliot was already beginning to stir into wakefulness. "Oh God," she muttered. She searched her memory frantically for how the two of them had ended up in his bed.

Elliot had made herbal tea for both of them and it had made them both feel very sleepy. The two had somehow managed to collapse on his bed and fall asleep. It hadn't been anything more, Olivia sighed in relief. Although, she found herself wondering what it would have been like if there had been more.

Elliot soon sat up as well. He looked at Olivia and for a moment was afraid. Had he somehow acted on those brief thoughts of the previous evening? Had he taken advantage of her? But soon the memories of last night returned to him and he sighed in relief. They had simply fallen asleep in the same bed. It had been completely innocent. Still, as he looked at her sitting there, smiling softly with her hair, haphazardly pouring out of what yesterday had been a neat and tidy ponytail, he couldn't help wondering what it would have been like if the night hadn't been so innocent.

"Morning," Olivia said, somewhat awkwardly as she slid out of the bed. She had to get back to her apartment and get ready for work and it would be much easier if she could sneak out without being noticed by any of Elliot's neighbors; some of them knew her and this was not something she wanted to explain to anyone.

"Olivia," Elliot was on his feet and had caught up with her just at the door of the apartment. He didn't know why but he had this overwhelming fear that she would walk away from him again. He had pushed her that far before. He had to let her know that nothing had happened.

She turned to him "Yeah?" she asked. Truth be told she wouldn't mind if he somehow convinced her to stay; deep down she wanted nothing more than to be with him and she would take any chance she got. Secretly, every time she had to leave him she cried a little inside. But she was pretty sure he wasn't going to beg her to stay.

"Nothing happened," he told her as he reached for her hand.

"I know," she tried not to sound disappointed about it and for the most part succeeded. "I'll see you at work," she turned and left.

Elliot sighed heavily and sank onto the couch. He flipped on the TV. The morning news was discussing an all too familiar topic.

"I'm here with Jack Bedford," the reporter began and Elliot sighed heavily. The local news had run the story the night before about how Elliot was cleared in Ryan's murder but they didn't seem willing to let the story die yet. "Mr. Bedford," the reporter continued "How do you feel now that Detective Stabler has been cleared of all charges in the murder of your nephew Ryan?"

"Cops are all alike," Jack Bedford began "They'll say anything to cover one another's asses. The simple fact is that my nephew is dead and no matter what those people say, Detective Stabler is responsible for his death."

"The NYPD seems to disagree with you," the reporter remarked.

Jack Bedford looked directly into the camera "The NYPD can go fuck themselves."

Elliot almost laughed. The interview was live and not running on a time delay. Anyone watching the news at that moment could have heard that. This particular news program would be in trouble with the FCC.

Elliot watched in amusement as the reporter, to stunned by what Jack had said, simply sat and stared at the man. After what seemed like forever, the reporter finally spoke again "Well… there you have it. The words of a grieving man and his outrage towards the police department… For channel ten news… this is Rachel Thompson…" the poor woman looked absolutely frazzled "Back to you Mike."

Elliot turned off the TV and got ready for work. By the time he had arrived at the station, he had forgotten all about Jack Bedford's angry if not hilariously timed words. The day passed by pretty normally, at least, as normal as it gets working in a unit that deals with rapists and pedophiles.

Four thirty in the afternoon found Elliot at his desk, doing paperwork while Olivia sat across from him doing the same. Neither had spoken of how they had spent the night together but it was obvious that each was thinking about it.

Every time Elliot would look up to ask Olivia a question, her gaze would drop instantly as if she was trying to hide the fact that she had just been staring at him intently. Likewise, when Olivia would look up, Elliot would find a very interesting spec of dirt on the top of his desk. The tension seemed to be mounting. They had to talk about it and they had to talk about it soon but as of that moment, Munch and Fin were still sitting at their own desks and had become deeply engrossed in observing the little intricacies of how their colleagues were interacting with one another.

This went on for a long time before a case came in and Munch and Fin left to handle it. As soon as they were out of earshot, Olivia opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a voice from the doors of the squad room.

"Is Detective Stabler here?" Elliot turned around and was on his feet only to see Jack Bedford, standing in front of him. Recognition spread over Bedford's face instantly and he smiled "At last we meet detective," he took another step into the squad room and grabbed Elliot by the throat, slamming him down on the desk "You can't hide behind your buddies anymore," he slowly began to choke the life out of Elliot.

Elliot tried to push Bedford off of him but it was no use, the man was too strong for him. He gasped for air and tried to speak but it was no use. He could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness.

"Stop right there," Olivia had run to Elliot's side of the desk where she attempted to pull Jack off of her partner.

Jack turned to Olivia and shoved her effortlessly away "This is none of your business lady," he growled as his hold on Elliot's throat did not diminish in the least.

"It is my business," Olivia sprang back quickly and made another attempt at getting Jack to relinquish his hold on Elliot. She could see Elliot's eyes practically bugging out of his head and she knew he didn't have much time left. "Let go of him right now."

At hearing all of the commotion, Cragen emerged from his office "What is going on here?" he asked although he soon got the general idea.

Jack finally dropped Elliot who fell limply across the desk top. He bent low and whispered in his ear "You got lucky this time but you can't hide here forever. We'll be meeting again soon," with that he straightened up and ran out of the precinct.

Olivia bent down and helped Elliot to sit up. "It's okay," she reassured him as she ran a hand down his back. He coughed a few times but there didn't seem to be any permanent damage.

"Who the hell was that?" Cragen asked after he had sent a pair of officers chasing after the man.

"Jack… Bedford…" Elliot was still trying to catch his breath.

"Take it easy El," Olivia soothed. She was trying to resist the urge to wrap her arms around him in front of the captain but the urge was strong. He had almost been murdered in front of her and she couldn't help him.

Elliot took a few more deep breaths "I'm fine," he told her although he still sounded breathless. He turned back to Cragen "I saw him on the news this morning, he's Ryan Bedford's uncle."

"Oh my God," Olivia whispered. That man who had just attacked Elliot was seeking revenge for a death that it had already been determined was not Elliot's fault. From what little Olivia knew about Jack Bedford already, he didn't seem like the type of man who could be reasoned with.

Cragen headed back into his office to call Casey to get a warrant for Bedford's arrest, leaving Olivia and Elliot alone in the squad room once more.

Elliot placed a hand on her shoulder "It'll be all right," he told her even though the words were as much to reassure himself as her. "I'm fine."

"Elliot," she began in a low tone that was meant to mask the emotions that she was desperately trying to keep from breaking through the surface "He could have killed you."

"I'm fine," Elliot said again as he stood to his feet and began to walk out of the squad room.

"Where are you going?" Olivia asked, immediately concerned as she followed him.

"Back to my apartment," Elliot threw over his shoulder "I'm suddenly very tired." He didn't want to be so short with her but it was necessary. If Bedford was going to make good on his threat, Elliot couldn't risk going to see Kathy or his kids and he couldn't risk Olivia showing up on his front stoop in the middle of the night. He was more afraid of Jack Bedford than he would let on and he couldn't risk anyone's safety, especially hers. It would be easy enough to stay away from his children, grueling emotionally but easy enough in principal. But when it came to Olivia, she would show up almost anywhere whether you expected her or not. Elliot knew that if Bedford made the connection between the two of them that she wouldn't be safe.

"Why don't you go catch a few in the crib?" Olivia suggested. She didn't want to see him get hurt and even though he had been attacked in the middle of a police station, she firmly believed that it was the safest place for him to stay.

"Just stay away from me all right," Elliot spun around to face her and hated himself when he saw the pain in her eyes at his outburst. Still, he had to keep it up if he didn't want to lose her; as soon as he heard word that they had Bedford in custody, he would apologize profusely for what he was about to say. "You know you just get on my nerves sometimes," he had to be convincing but these words were tearing him up inside as he watched Olivia absorb them. "Showing up on my doorstep nearly every night like some lost puppy. What is your problem?" he nearly gave up the farce right then and there when he saw the tears beginning to gather in her eyes as she struggled against them. He had to turn away. He had to do it to protect her "Stay away from me." He walked out of the precinct, willing himself not to look back, not to turn around and embrace her, not to say he was sorry and that he hadn't meant a word of it. He walked to his car and got in.

If he had allowed himself one last look at the precinct before he drove back to his building, he would have seen Olivia, grasping the open double door for support as she bit down hard on her bottom lip, trying not to cry and utterly failing.

If Elliot had bothered to glance into the windows of the building across the street from the precinct, he would have seen that Jack Bedford had eluded the two officers that Cragen had sent after him and still managed to stay dangerously close to Elliot. If Elliot had just looked, he would have seen that Jack Bedford had witness everything that had just transpired.

**A/N: Okay guys, keep the faith. I promise this will get better but you all have to keep the faith. I bet if the writer's of last night's episode could add author's notes to the end, they would have told you to keep the faith too. I should have realized that last night instead of getting mad. So everyone, keep the faith and while you're keeping all that faith, would you mind terribly, leaving me a review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 3:**

**A/N: I'm dedicating this chapter to Essy who reminded me to change the story status from "complete" to "In progress" because I could have gone forever without remembering to do that LOL. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.**

It was a few hours later when Olivia finally left the precinct and headed back to her apartment. She had been helping chase down leads on Jack Bedford but had turned up nothing. Cragen had told her to go home and unwind, that she would be his second call if they found anything. Cragen hadn't heard the hurtful things that Elliot had said to Olivia but he suspected that something had happened when Olivia walked back into the squad room alone and looking like she could fall apart at any minute. She had insisted on staying to aid in the search and Cragen had obliged her for a little while but soon it became clear that the day's events had taken their toll on her and he sent her home.

She stopped at the market on the corner of her block to pick up some fresh vegetables to make herself a salad for dinner even though she really didn't have much of an appetite. She had almost watched Elliot being killed in front of her and she was almost certain that his mood change had to do with the fact that she was the most useless partner; she didn't have his back when he needed her.

She reached the door of her building and shifted the bag of groceries to one side as she reached for her keys. Suddenly she felt herself being grabbed from behind and she dropped the grocery bag, littering the steps of her building with vegetables. She struggled to break free of the iron grip but it was impossible. Her assailant dragged her to a nearby parked car and shoved her in the back seat. It was then that she got a glimpse of her attacker. It was Jack Bedford.

"Just play along sweetheart and I won't hurt you," he told her.

Somehow she didn't believe him. When he stepped back to close the door of the car, she jumped out and started running. She tore off down the street, wondering why the sidewalks seemed so empty all of a sudden. She needed to find someplace where she could call the captain or anyone for that matter. She ducked down an alley and was almost to the other side when she was tackled from behind. She fell to the concrete hard and emitted an agonized grown. She had tired to use her right arm to cushion the impact but do to the extra weight of Jack's body coming down on top of hers, her forearm had snapped. She sank her teeth into her bottom lip and tried to ignore the pain but it was all but impossible.

Jack dragged her back to his car and attempted to shove her in the back seat once more. He soon realized that she was going to be trouble as long as she was conscious. He delivered one swift punch to her head and she went limp in his arms. He laid her gently across the back seat; he hadn't wanted to hurt her, she was simply a means to an end.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elliot sat on his couch with his head in his hands. Cragen had just called and among the information about how they hadn't found Bedford yet, Cragen had managed to ask the question 'What the hell did you say to Olivia?'

Elliot rethought every word and hated himself even more and more by the second. If their positions had been reversed Olivia would do the same thing, push him away to try and protect him. But he would never give up on her and he realized as he sat there that she had never given up on him. Even when he had been a complete ass to her, she had always been there. He couldn't pretend to be mad at her anymore, he had to trust her that she could take care of herself and let her in. He reached for the phone and began to dial her cell.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Jack heard the phone ring and knew that it had to belong to the woman in the back seat. He pulled over and reached back. After a short time of feeling around for the pocket it was in, he retrieved it. He thought about simply throwing the damn thing out the window but then he caught a glimpse of the caller ID. He grinned and flipped it open. He began speaking without skipping a beat "You took the life of someone close to me, now I'm going to do the same to you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elliot's blood ran cold. Bedford had her. In spite of his efforts to protect her or maybe because of them, he had put her directly in the line of fire. He tried in vein to compose himself before speaking "What do you want?"

On the other end of the line, Bedford chuckled humorlessly "Do you know what it was like to see my brother and sister-in-law fall apart when they got the news that an out of control cop had murdered their son?"

"He ran," Elliot defended "I didn't kill him."

"You can keep saying that," Bedford told him "But no matter what all your buddies say happened, you know that you are the one who is ultimately responsible for his death." Jack paused before he spoke next, delivering the words that tore Elliot apart inside "And now, you are responsible for your partner's death too."

The line went dead. Elliot sat in shock for a moment. He quickly dialed the captain and apprised him of the situation. Cragen told Elliot to stay put and that he would call him if he found out anything. After hanging up, Elliot simply sat there, feeling utterly helpless.

Those things he had said to her, he hadn't meant them and now… now he might never get a chance to tell her that. He hadn't been able to protect her. He was a failure. He got up and walked outside. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Olivia's phone once again, praying that Bedford would answer. He did.

"Kill me instead please," he begged.

"It doesn't work that way," Bedford snarled.

"Please," Elliot was nearly crying "Please, I wish I could go back and do it differently but Ryan is dead. Please don't hurt her."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. Bedford didn't want to hurt Olivia. In his mind, she was completely innocent in this whole thing. Quickly Bedford formulated a plan "Meet at the old abandoned Jersey carnival in two hours. Come alone or she dies. Do we have a deal."

"I'll be there," Elliot promised. He hung up and got into his car.

**A/N: Well that's chapter three. I hope you all like it. Please review and I'll try to update soon.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 4:**

**A/N: Hi guys. Here's another chapter. I really enjoy all of the wonderful reviews. But please, don't yell at me. I don't like being called nasty names, it hurts my feelings. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Keep those reviews coming!**

Jack looked at his watch as he pulled up in front of the abandoned amusement park. He had fifteen minutes before Elliot was supposed to show up. Olivia was still unconscious in the back seat. He got out and opened the door. He looked at her broken arm, he hadn't meant for that to happen. He quickly fashioned a makeshift sling for the broken bone before he gently lifted her out of the car. He needed to find some place to hide her for the time being.

He saw the tea cup ride nearby and headed towards it. He laid Olivia carefully inside one of the tea cups. She was hidden and for the most part protected from the elements. He took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. He hadn't wanted to hurt her. He just hadn't been able to think of anything else other than his nephew lately. They had said Ryan had killed someone. Jack couldn't believe it. It had to be just another lie perpetrated by the police department to cover their asses. Someone had to pay for Ryan's death.

Jack was glad that Elliot had called Olivia's cell phone and agreed to meet him. He didn't want to kill an innocent person. He didn't particularly like the idea of taking any life but he felt justified in his anger. He had to kill Elliot, it wouldn't bring Ryan back but maybe his brother and sister-in-law would feel that some form of justice had been done.

After Elliot was dead Jack would take Olivia to the nearest emergency room and leave her there. He only hoped that she would stay unconscious until then. He didn't want her to be awake when he killed Elliot; he remembered how hard she had tried to stop him when he had attacked Elliot at the station.

He saw headlights in the distance and he left Olivia, silently apologizing to her and to God for what he was about to do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Luke Matheson had been hiding in the abandoned park for months now. The cops had never thought to look for him here. He had been careful to take his victims from far enough away from the park that they would never think to look for him there. He made sure to dump them all in Manhattan. The cops knew his face but he was assured that they would never find him.

He had been about to venture out to search for his next victim when he had heard the footsteps. He shrank back inside the haunted house which had become his personal refuge and waited. He watched as a figure came and laid something in one of the tea cups. When the figure turned away, Luke crept out once more. His curiosity got the better of him and he snuck up to the tea cup ride.

He grinned, seeing the woman lying unconscious inside. He wouldn't have to go far for his next victim after all. Of course in the back of his mind, he knew that his hiding place would most likely be revealed but he could always move on after this one. She was just so beautiful. He couldn't help himself. She had been left on his doorstep. It would be rude to refuse her.

He lifted her into his arms and carried her into the haunted house, not caring when the jacket she was wrapped in fell to the floor of the tea cup. He laid her down on the floor of the haunted house and sat watching her; it wouldn't be any fun to start until she was awake.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elliot stepped out of his car, his heart pounding, his hand gripping his gun while rested in its holster. He saw a figure holding a flashlight standing a few yards away and he walked nervously towards it. "I'm here," he called softly.

"Good," Jack responded. He took a few steps forward. He too was incredibly nervous. He didn't want to kill anyone. But he thought of Ryan and knew that this was the only way. Because of the NYPD, the man in front of him had gotten away with murder. He couldn't let that happen.

"Where's my partner?" Elliot was about to draw his gun but he didn't want to kill this man. He just wanted to make sure Olivia was safe. As soon as he knew that she was safe, he would give himself up and let Bedford have his revenge.

"She's safe," Bedford responded.

"I want to see her," Elliot demanded in a slightly shaking voice.

"Why?" Bedford asked. He didn't want to take Elliot to see her. He was afraid that she could have regained consciousness and he didn't want her to know that this man had traded his life for hers.

"I want to say goodbye," Elliot explained. He needed to see her, needed to tell her how sorry he was about what he had said to her, that he never got tired of seeing her and would have loved to spend the rest of his life with her. He wanted to tell her that he loved her.

"Did my sister-in-law get to say goodbye to her child?" Jack asked angrily "Why should I allow you that grace?"

"Because I'm asking you," Elliot's answer sounded hollow.

"You don't get to say goodbye," Jack took another step forward and reached for Elliot, flinging him to the ground with such force that Elliot's gun actually flew out of the holster and landed out of his reach.

Elliot looked up at Jack as he brought his foot down into Elliot's rib cage. "Please," he begged "I have to see her."

Jack Bedford was more capable of mercy than he led on. He reached down and hauled Elliot to his feet. He pulled him towards the tea cups "Okay," he said begrudgingly. When they reached the tea cups Jack was shocked to see that Olivia was not where he had left her. He saw his jacket on the floor and picked it up. "Where is she?" he murmured.

"What?" Elliot was confused and angry "What are you talking about."

Jack knew that something was wrong. If she had regained consciousness, she would have heard him and Elliot talking and would have most likely come out to interfere. "I left her here," Jack explained softly "She's gone."

"Gone where?" Elliot asked. Where could she have gone?

Jack knew that there was no way that they could be alone. She had been unconscious and with a broken arm, it wouldn't be exactly easy for her to have gotten far on her own if she had woken up. He simply stared at Elliot until both men heard a scream of pure agony coming from somewhere nearby.

**A/N: A twist worthy of the show itself. Will Jack get over his anger towards Elliot? Will the two men be able to work together to save Olivia? Please review and I'll try and update as soon as I can.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 5:**

**A/N: I love all of you guys and all of your wonderful reviews so just because I love you all so much, here's another chapter. As always, keep those reviews coming. I always love hearing from you guys.**

Olivia was able to pull her broken arm out of Luke's grasp and she began to back away from him. This was just too insane to be happening. It had been almost two months since Luke Matheson's last victim had been found dumped amongst the trash in Manhattan. The pictures from the case files had haunted her nightmares. She hadn't meant to scream so loud when he had grabbed her arm but the pain it had caused had just been so sudden and intense, she hadn't been able to help it.

He advanced towards her and she found herself backed against a wall "Back off," she said menacingly as she kicked at him.

He simply caught her foot in his hand and twisted it until the bone popped. "Now now," he chided "Where would the fun be in that?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Where is she?" Elliot was almost at Jack's throat. "I swear if you hurt her I'll…"

Jack kept Elliot at arms length effortlessly "I swear," he began "She was right here." Jack tilted his head and listened. "I hear voices," he whispered.

"No kidding," Elliot whispered bitterly.

Jack began to walk in the direction that the voices were coming from. Elliot followed close behind; there was no way he was letting this guy out of his sight until he knew where Olivia was. He soon realized that Jack wasn't insane when he said he could hear voices. Jack stopped outside the haunted house "There's someone in there," he said, turning to Elliot. He hadn't forgotten about what would happen after he proved to Elliot that Olivia was safe but he had every intention of fulfilling his end of the bargain first and if she was in trouble they had to help her.

Elliot moved a little closer so he could see inside. He saw Olivia backed into a corner, staring wide eyed at someone who was moving closer to her "No," he whispered. But it wasn't until the man turned slightly and Elliot saw part of his face that he knew that this was really bad. "Oh my God," he recognized the man instantly. He turned to Jack "You swear you didn't set this up?" he asked, wishing he still had his gun.

"I swear," Jack was stopped dead in his tracks looking at the scene before him. There was no doubt in his mind that something bad was going to happen if they didn't get in there soon. "Who is that guy?" he asked.

"Luke Matheson," Elliot answered "We've been trying to catch him for months. He's killed ten women. We could never figure out where he's been hiding."

"Well you know now," Jack stated.

"Yeah," Elliot agreed and he stepped inside the haunted house. "Police. Matheson put your hands up," he really didn't have a plan, he just wanted to get Matheson's attention off of Olivia so that he could… he hadn't thought that far. Probably punch him. He didn't have his gun so yeah… he would probably punch the guy.

Matheson's attention did indeed shift to Elliot. Olivia took the opportunity to stagger to her feet. As she put her weight on the ankle that Matheson had twisted, she could tell that it was broken. She saw Jack Bedford standing behind Elliot and part of her wanted to call out to Elliot to warn him but then she saw Bedford's eyes. He was looking at Matheson and he was petrified.

"Police," Elliot said again. His eyes met Olivia's, silently she nodded as she got the meaning behind his gaze. She began to slide along the wall, inching her way closer to the exit where Bedford stood.

"You're the police?" Matheson asked skeptically. At that moment, he saw Olivia out of the corner of his eye "No you don't," he reached out and grabbed her by her broken arm, causing her to scream again.

"Let her go," Elliot commanded, stepping forward. If only his gun wasn't lying outside in the gravel somewhere.

Jack watched in abject horror. If he hadn't broken her arm, then Matheson wouldn't be able to use it against her. If he hadn't chosen this particular place for a meeting spot, Matheson would have never gotten his hands on her. He had left Olivia alone and unconscious. He might as well have hand delivered her to this man. He felt so guilty. This was all his fault. His need to get justice for his nephew was ruining too many lives.

Elliot reached out towards Olivia who willingly took his hand and was pulled behind him. With his focus on Olivia, he didn't notice when Matheson pulled a knife but Jack did.

"You son-of-a-bitch," Jack cursed as he tackled Matheson to the ground.

Elliot moved to help Jack but stopped when Jack yelled "The two of you get out of here!"

"But…" Elliot began. He was about to say something to the effect of 'Weren't you going to kill me,' but he realized how stupid that sounded. He looked at Olivia, she was very pale. She was putting all her weight on one leg. He knew he had to get her away from there as soon as possible. He silently thanked Jack as he picked her up and ran out into the park.

He headed for where he had parked his car but hadn't gotten more than a few feet when he heard shots ring out behind him. Cursing, he ducked into the nearest building. He sat, holding Olivia tight against him, praying that they wouldn't be found. He could feel her trembling against him. "Liv?" he whispered "Did he…?" he trailed off before he could finish the question.

"I don't think so," she answered and he could tell that it was the not knowing that was getting to her most of all.

"I promise we'll get out of this," Elliot told her as he smoothed a piece of hair behind her ear.

Olivia laid her head on his chest. She was in so much pain. She was on the verge of passing out. She was just glad that Elliot had shown up when he did. "I know we will," she whispered back as she managed a faint smile.

Elliot heard the footsteps coming closer and held his breath. He wondered if it was Jack or Luke. He wasn't sure but he thought it would be better at this point if it was Jack. The footsteps faded into the distance and Elliot relaxed slightly. He stood up and peered out into the night. He could see his car off in the distance and he saw a figure moving around it. Whoever it was, was taking the time to slash all four tires. He turned back to Olivia "I think we're in trouble," he admitted before sinking down on the floor beside her. He knew they couldn't stay there all night. He just hoped that Olivia could hold on until they could get some help.


	6. Chapter 6

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 6:**

**A/N: I love all of you guys. You and all of your reviews are so incredibly awesome! **

**Dedications**

**Obsessedwithstabler: For having such wonderful ADD that makes her write so many wonderful stories and inspires me to be really evil when I have to be.**

**KaydenceRei: For keeping the EO faith and for being just an amazing friend.**

**FreeStyler9125: For putting up with me in general and for showing me a wonderfully fluffy shippy video after she had shown me some stuff that was so funny that I couldn't stop laughing and was finding it hard to write anything serious. The shippy video helped me get right back on track.**

Elliot's eyes scanned the building where they had taken refuge. It appeared to be an indoor playground. There was an elaborate network of tunnels with ladders, slides and ball pits. He almost wanted to laugh. He looked at Olivia; he knew that she wouldn't be able to make it very far anywhere but he couldn't just leave her. He stood up and moved with her to the entrance of the tunnels. Maybe they could hide in there until morning.

"You've got to be kidding me," Olivia whispered as they began to climb up into the tunnels. Luckily, her broken ankle didn't impede her ability to crawl and the tunnels were wide enough for them to crawl side by side so that she could lean against Elliot when she needed to.

Elliot memorized every turn they took; he remembered when he had taken the twins to a place like this when they had been younger. He had gone into the tunnels with them because he had been paranoid about them getting lost. In the end, it had turned out that he had been the one to get lost and Lizzie had finally found him.

After reaching what Elliot assumed must have been near the center of the maze of tunnels, he and Olivia stopped at a place where one tunnel intersected with another. Olivia immediately lay down on her uninjured side and Elliot lay down beside her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. He was sure that no one would think to look for them in this place; it was just too improbable. At least, he hoped it was.

"Elliot," Olivia whispered as quietly as she could; one draw back to the tunnels was that the hard plastic caused more than a few echoes.

"Yeah," he whispered back.

"Leave me here," she wasn't asking him to do it, she was telling him to. It was his best chance of getting away. She knew that she would just slow him down.

"No," he responded evenly. He wasn't going to simply abandon her, he couldn't.

"Don't argue about it," she turned her head to face him in the darkness "Get out of here and get help."

"Liv," he held her close "I can't just… I'm not going to leave you here alone."

"Yes you are," she tried to shove him away from her but she was lying on her good arm and her attempt wasn't successful. "You need to go get help. I'll be okay. Just go."

Elliot knew she was right. He had to get help; Olivia needed to get to a hospital. But he just couldn't leave her. What if he was wrong and the whoever it was who had slashed his tires could easily find Olivia in the tunnels? He didn't want to leave her but he knew that he had to. He touched her cheek softly. There were so many things he wanted to tell her. "Liv… I…"

"Shhh," she whispered reassuringly "Just go."

"I'll be back," he pressed his lips softly to hers "I promise you that."

Olivia was too stunned by the kiss to say anything at first and by the time she had opened her mouth, he had already gone. "I love you," she whispered into the empty air around her "Please be careful."

Elliot emerged from the tunnel and crept to the entrance of the building. He looked out into the darkness but couldn't see anyone. His cell phone was in the car and he needed to get to it. He needed to let someone know where they were.

He made a mad dash for the car and pulled his keys out to unlock it. He ducked inside, practically lying on the floorboards incase Matheson came back. He reached into the glove compartment and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed Cragen's number with lightening speed. He held his breath as he listened to it ring. He just prayed that Cragen would answer.

"Elliot, I told you I'd call if I found out anything," Cragen began in a frustrated tone, not even bothering with a greeting of any kind.

"Cap," Elliot whispered urgently "I found her."

"What?" Cragen was suddenly more interested in this call than he had been just a few seconds ago when he had seen Elliot's name on the caller ID "What did you do?"

"It's a long story," Elliot could hear footsteps coming closer to the car; he knew he had to make this quick. "We're at the abandoned Jersey Carnival. Olivia needs medical attention," the footsteps were very close now. He had to finish his conversation and get out of there "Matheson," he said simply.

"Did you just say…?" Cragen began but Elliot never heard the rest of his question. He was pulled feet first from the car, dropping the cell phone on the floorboards as he went.

Elliot found himself staring up into the cold eyes of Luke Matheson. He tried to get to his feet but was shoved down hard. Matheson's voice was cold "Where is your little friend?" he asked as he kicked Elliot in the side.

Elliot tried to crawl away but was struck in the side again, this time with a baseball bat "I have no idea what you're talking about," he tried to play dumb. There was no way in hell he would ever tell this man where Olivia was. He only hoped that she would stay there and wouldn't be found.

"I think you're a liar," Matheson brought the baseball bat down on Elliot three more times before he spoke again. "Where is that hot piece of ass that you ran off with?"

Elliot simply kept his mouth shut as he lifted his arms to try and protect his head from the blows that Matheson was delivering. The pain was intense but there was no way he would give in.

"You stashed her somewhere in this place," Matheson stated as he kicked Elliot so that he rolled over "Tell me where she is."

"No," Elliot whispered just before the baseball bat made contact with his head and the darkness claimed him.

Matheson dropped the bat beside the unconscious detective. He was about to start searching the park for Olivia when he heard sirens in the distance. He reached into his pocket and took out the car keys that he had taken off of Jack Bedford. He had found Bedford's car on the other side of the park and had planned to take Olivia with him. But now he decided that escape was preferable to staying and being caught by the cops. He ran for the car, jumped in, started the engine and sped away.

In the park, one man lay dead while another lay unconscious on the cold gravel. While the woman that he had tried to protect, lay in the tunnels, terrified that the man she loved wouldn't come back to her.


	7. Chapter 7

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 7:**

**A/N: You guys are absolutely amazing! I love you all! I love all of your wonderful reviews! Keep 'em coming.**

**Dedications: This chapter is for Rach, Kay and Nat because I fell asleep with the computer on and they were talking to me. I hope you guys aren't mad. I'd like to say that it won't happen again but it probably will and I'm sorry about that too.**

When Elliot regained consciousness there were paramedics standing around him where he lay on the cold ground. He tried to move but felt an overwhelming pain. He ignored it when the paramedics urged him to take it easy and he managed to stand up.

Cragen pushed through the cluster of people "We can't find Olivia," he told him.

Elliot nodded. Hiding her from Matheson also meant that she was hidden from the people that came to help them. He led Cragen to the building where the indoor playground was, all the time ignoring the paramedics as they tried to tell him that he shouldn't be exerting himself. "She's got a broken arm and her ankle is twisted or broken or something," he explained. When they reached the entrance to the tunnels, he disappeared almost instantly. He was the only one who knew exactly which way to go.

After a few minutes of crawling, he felt the pain intensify. He knew that he had to keep going. Finally he reached the intersection where he had left her. Someone had been kind enough to flip the lights on in the building and the florescent colors of the surrounding tunnels gave the space an almost enchanting glow. She had pushed herself up against a corner and was sitting, waiting for him. When she saw him, she gasped. "Oh God," she reached out to him with her good hand. "Elliot, what happened to you?"

"It's nothing," he said dismissively even though he was gasping for breath "I'm fine," but he wasn't fine. He collapsed into her lap.

"Elliot?" she called. "El, honey?" with her one good arm, she cradled him "El, stay with me."

"It's okay," he tried to tell her but his voice was weak. He started to get up but could barely move.

"Take it easy," she whispered. She could hear the paramedics and Cragen having a discussion at the mouth of the tunnel; the voices echoed loudly in the empty building. They would be coming in soon but who knew if they would find them fast enough. Carefully, she maneuvered so that Elliot was leaning against her. She remembered exactly the way they had come when they had entered the tunnels and could easily back track. But having Elliot be the one who needed to lean against her this time, the going would be much slower. "It's gonna be okay," she whispered to him as she inched her way along the tunnel wall. "Just stay with me El. Just say with me."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We have to go in," one of the paramedics told Cragen. "Detective Stabler has at least three broken ribs. He shouldn't have started moving around in the first place."

Cragen sighed heavily, Elliot was far too stubborn for his own good, especially when it concerned his partner. He was just about to step aside and allow the paramedics to pass when a voice came from just inside the tunnel's mouth.

"Coming out," it was Olivia. Cragen stepped aside then and watched her emerge with Elliot leaning against her, struggling to breathe. "He needs help," she told the paramedics and pushed them off of her. Elliot was more in need of medical attention than she was. She watched as they laid him on a stretcher and fitted him with an oxygen mask.

"Are you all right?" Cragen tapped her on her shoulder.

With her gaze fixed on Elliot the entire time she answered "Yeah, just a couple broken bones."

When the paramedics lifted the stretcher Olivia stood to her feet and tried to follow. She stumbled on her broken ankle but ignored the pain. Cragen grabbed her and offered her his shoulder to lean against. "Take it easy," he whispered reassuringly.

"They're taking him," she choked out as she tried to keep from crying. "I can't leave him Don," she couldn't leave his side, there was no way.

Cragen understood and helped her to the ambulance. "Detective Benson will be riding along," he explained as he gave her a boost into the back of the ambulance.

"She needs to have someone look at that broken arm," one of the paramedics objected.

"I'll have it looked at when we get to the hospital," Olivia stated "Not a moment before."

The paramedic looked pleadingly at Cragen who simply shrugged "You heard the woman."

Olivia smiled gratefully at Cragen as the paramedics closed the doors of the ambulance. She turned to Elliot "Hey," she whispered.

He looked up at her and smiled softly through the oxygen mask "Hey," he whispered back. They had made it. It was then that he remembered those things that he had said. He had to apologize "Liv," he began.

"Shhh," she ran a hand down the side of his face "Don't worry, you're gonna be fine. Just relax and take it easy."

"I didn't mean it," he whispered and she could see tears gathering at the corners of his eyes "I'm sorry."

"For what honey?" she asked, taking his hand where it lay and holding it in hers, grasping it as if he were her life line and in more ways than one, he was.

"What I said at the precinct," he clarified "I was just scared. I didn't mean it. I'm sorry."

Olivia smiled softly as her own tears gathered "I know," she whispered. She had known that he was afraid but it hadn't taken the sting out of what he had said.

Elliot looked up at her. His voice was getting lost in the sound of the oxygen flowing through the mask and into his lungs "I love you," he whispered hoarsely.

Olivia knew that she had heard him correctly but she thought that he was only saying it because he was just glad that they were both alive. "Shhhh," she soothed as she ran a hand down the side of his face once more, wishing that he truly meant what he was saying. "You've been through a lot. You need to rest."

Elliot's eyes drifted closed. She didn't believe him. He could tell that she didn't believe him. He had to convince her but he didn't know how. It was getting hard to think as all he wanted to do was go to sleep. "I love you," he said again. "I have loved you for so long now. I love you so much that it terrifies me. I didn't know that it was possible to love someone so much before I knew you..."

"Increase the oxygen," one paramedic said to the other as Elliot began to gasp for air.

"What's happening to him?" Olivia asked. She couldn't lose him. She understood everything he had said about it being absolutely terrifying to love someone so much because she felt the same way. She turned to Elliot "You gotta stay with me," she begged.

"He's going into cardiac arrest!" the other paramedic screamed.

"No!" Olivia sobbed, jumping to her feet. "Elliot you can't leave me! I love you too!"

The paramedics worked frantically on him for several minutes. Olivia simply stood there in shock. She just couldn't lose him. Eventually the mood in the ambulance turned from frantic terror to calm. One of the paramedics turned breathlessly to Olivia "He's stable," he smiled at her.

Olivia collapsed back beside Elliot's stretcher and buried her face in the sheets beside him "Thank God," she whispered over and over again.

**A/N: So I was planning on ending this chapter about two paragraphs earlier than I ended up doing but then I thought that I'd been giving you guys a lot of evil cliffies lately and I thought that all of my wonderful readers and reviewers deserved a little bit of a break. Please keep those wonderful reviews coming and I'll try to update as soon as possible.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 8:**

**A/N: I love you people. You guys and all of your reviews are so awesome! This chapter is for SVU101 who has been practically begging me for some fluff. I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always I hope to see more of your wonderful reviews.**

By the time Olivia had gotten out of surgery to have her broken bones set, Elliot was awake and comfortably settled in a hospital room. Olivia's doctors tried to take her to a room of her own but she refused. She needed to see him first. She was losing the battle until Cragen once again intervened on her behalf once again.

"There's just no arguing with her," he said, shrugging at one of the doctors. He grabbed a nearby wheelchair "I'll bring her back once she's gotten a chance to see that her partner is okay."

The doctor sighed and reluctantly conceded.

Olivia was incredibly grateful. She stood shakily and attempted to walk on her own, refusing the wheelchair at first.

"Oh no you don't," Cragen smiled, placing a gentle hand on her arm and guiding her to the chair.

"Captain, I'm fine," she told him and he shook his head.

"You just had sugery, the last thing you need is to be moving around like this. I'm going to take you to see Elliot because it's the right thing to do but after that, you will go to your own hospital room and you will get some rest," he was firm but gentle as he pushed her down into the seat of the chair.

"Captain," she began to protest.

"I'll order you if I have to," he was dead serious although if Olivia had looked at him as he wheeled her through the hallways, she would have seen the smile on his face.

"All right," Olivia conceded reluctantly.

They moved swiftly through the halls until they reached Elliot's room. When they did, Cragen wheeled Olivia inside and parked the chair by the side of Elliot's bed "Brought you a visitor," he smiled gently at the look on Elliot's face when he saw Olivia.

"Thanks Cap," Elliot sounded worn out but it was as if seeing Olivia gave him a new found strength.

Cragen turned to Olivia "I'll be back in fifteen minutes," he turned and left the room to give them their privacy.

Olivia reached out with her good hand and took Elliot's "Hey," she smiled warmly.

"Hey," he grinned back and then with a wink he added "Nice cast."

Olivia blushed although she didn't know why as she looked down at the simply white cast on her forearm. "Thanks," she said sheepishly.

"Can I sign it?" he asked mischievously.

Olivia hid her face as she blushed more intensely this time "I don't have a pen," she told him. She couldn't help smiling. He was so cute. In spite of everything, he didn't seem to hold it against her that he was in the hospital. She had been informed by Cragen that one of Elliot's broken ribs had punctured his lung when he had climbed up into the tunnels to get her.

Elliot reached over to the bedside table where an array of different colored sharpy markers lay. "Munch brought these," he explained as he selected a purple one "By the way," he added "I think you should be careful around him and Fin until you get those casts off," he grinned "They were talking about drawing little hearts all over them in pink marker."

Olivia hid her face in her good hand and laughed "Oh Lord." She positioned her cast so Elliot could see it better to write on it. From where she was, she couldn't see what he was writing until he was done. When he finished, she brought the cast up to her face and read.

_You're cute. Love Elliot_

She giggled in spite of herself. She didn't know what anyone would say if they saw that on there "Thanks," she smiled "You're cute too."

"Really," he grinned back at her "Cute huh?"

"You said it first," she shrugged.

"Good point," he laughed then became serious again. "They didn't find Matheson," he told her as he squeezed her hand tight "And Jack Bedford is dead."

Olivia wiped a tear from her eye. She didn't know why she was so affected by the news that the man who had kidnapped her and tried to kill Elliot was dead but after all he had saved both their lives. She was sure that if he hadn't tackled Matheson, she and Elliot would have never stood a chance. She couldn't help feeling a sense of loss. Jack Bedford had been a man stricken with grief who had made some very bad decisions on how to handle that grief. In the end though, he had made the right one.

Olivia cleared her throat "I'm sure they'll find Matheson," she said in an attempt to reassure not only Elliot but herself. "Now that we know he's still out there, every cop from here to Pittsburg will be all over this. They'll get him," she said again.

"He could have…" Elliot whispered, turning away from her.

Olivia tightened her grip on his hand and scooted closer to him "But he didn't," she said quickly in a soft voice "We're both still here," she felt herself choking up slightly "It's gonna be okay."

Elliot nodded. Then, as if he had remembered something he asked "In the ambulance… when… did you really… or did I just imagine it?"

Olivia felt the tears in her eyes "No," she said softly as she leaned closer "You weren't imagining things."

He ran a hand down the side of her face "You mean more to me than I ever thought someone could."

She leaned closer still and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he murmured as his hand went to the back of her head and he attempted to deepen the kiss. His attempts were cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat from the open door of the hospital room.

Elliot and Olivia quickly pulled apart to see Cragen standing in the doorway. He seemed amused at the startled expressions on their faces "Am I… interrupting something?" he asked.

"Captain," Olivia began "We were…"

"It's okay Olivia," Cragen told her as he came to stand behind the wheelchair. "I didn't see anything or hear anything. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

Elliot and Olivia both laughed nervously "Thanks," they said in unison.

"We are going to have to talk about what I didn't see or hear later though," Cragen told them as he began to wheel Olivia out of the room.

Olivia kept her eyes on Elliot as long as she could "Bye," she whispered with a soft smile.

Elliot raised one of his hands and gave a small wave "See ya," he returned her soft smile and he winked.

Cragen wheeled Olivia to her own hospital room not far from Elliot's "I'll take you to see him tomorrow," he told her as he helped her out of the chair and on to the hospital bed.

"Thanks," Olivia smiled at her captain.

"I have to get back to the precinct," he told her "Call me if you need anything. Casey said she'd be stopping by sometime tomorrow as well."

"Thanks," Olivia said again as she settled herself among the pillows on the bed. She was all of a sudden very tired.

"No problem," Cragen smiled gently down at the woman he loved like a daughter "You just get some rest."

Olivia nodded "Okay," she murmured sleepily.

"Goodnight," Cragen turned to leave the room.

"Night," Olivia murmured as she drifted off into a deep slumber.

**A/N: You guys are lucky I'm not in a cliff hanger mood. Like Olivia, I'm tired right now and am going to head to bed. Please review and I'll try to update soon. Remember, this story is far from over.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 9:**

**A/N: You guys are amazing. I love you all and all of your wonderful reviews. This chapter is for EnglishJumperChick13. I hope you feel better soon kiddo and here's another chapter to help you.**

"Good morning sunshine," Elliot opened his eyes to see Fin standing there with a smirk on his face.

Elliot stretched as carefully as possible in the narrow bed, trying not to disturb his heart monitor and IV "Hey man," he greeted somewhat groggily "What's up?"

"Just thought I'd stop by before work," Fin responded simply but from the look on his face, Elliot knew he was up to something.

"What time is it?" Elliot asked, looking around the room for the clock that hung on the wall. He was disoriented with sleep and it took him a few seconds before he saw it. It was 7:00am "Oh, not cool," he groaned "It's too early."

"Stop being such a baby," Fin told him "I stopped by before heading to the station. We're all working overtime to try and find Matheson."

"Good luck," Elliot said earnestly. Then his gaze rested on the bedside table. He noticed that something was missing and Fin's reason for coming in early was suddenly clear to him "Oh Fin," he murmured "Don't."

"Oh come on," Fin protested as he held up the pink sharpie.

"I'm warning you," Elliot couldn't help smiling "You don't know what your getting yourself into."

"Me?" Fin asked innocently "I'm not gonna do anything."

"Does the phrase suicide by cop mean anything to you?" Elliot asked with a chuckle.

"Like I said," Fin smiled devilishly "I'm not gonna do anything." And he was out the door before Elliot could say another word.

Elliot leaned back against the pillows and groaned. He didn't know what would be better, for Olivia to be awake and kick Fin's ass right then and there or for her to be asleep only to discover later that her cast has been decorated in pretty pink sharpie. He decided that both were bad scenarios. Whatever happened, it was Fin's funeral.

Fin reappeared minutes later. From the look of triumph on his face Elliot surmised that Olivia must have still been asleep. "You know she'll kill you when she finds out," he said simply.

"She's not gonna kill me," Fin said, trying to pull of a look of complete innocence.

Of course, Elliot realized, Fin would never sign his own name if he didn't want to feel Olivia's full wrath. Elliot studied Fin's face a little longer and saw the glint in his eye "What did you do?" he asked finally, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Fin just stood there for a moment before responding coolly "I didn't do anything."

Elliot cast his gaze upward "Oh brother," he muttered. At least Fin would make this hospital stay an interesting one.

"I've gotta get to work," Fin said turning to leave "I'll see you later."

"You might wanna stay away from Olivia's room when you come back," Elliot called after him "She's not gonna be happy with you when she realizes what you've done."

Fin turned to Elliot, grinning widely as he said again "I didn't do anything," then he turned and was gone.

"Sure you didn't," Elliot sighed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

An hour later Casey came through the door of Olivia's room to find her friend sitting up in bed with a very sour expression on her face "Are you all right?" she asked as she took a seat next to Olivia's bedside.

Olivia moved the blanket on her bed to reveal the case on her ankle. On the side of it were a series or pink hearts. There were three of them, each an inch high. Underneath the hearts was written the message…

_Feel better soon. Your friend, John Munch_

"Aw," Casey smiled and then looked up at Olivia's expression "What?" she inquired "Not 'Aw'?"

"Definitely not 'Aw'," Olivia told her. She was going to hurt Munch when she saw him.

"I think it's sweet," Casey told her "Even if pink isn't your color, it's still a sweet thought."

"I guess so," Olivia admitted begrudgingly. Still, she had no idea how Munch had managed to do it while she was asleep.

Casey stood up "I was just about to go see Elliot, wanna come?"

"Sure," Olivia smiled softly. She had to admit that even a short time away from Elliot made her miss him terribly.

Casey brought the wheelchair over beside the bed and helped Olivia into it. It was then that she saw what Elliot had written on the cast on Olivia's arm. "Aw," she said again "Elliot thinks you're cute."

"Don't read too much into it," Olivia said in a warning tone.

"What?" Casey said innocently as if she had no idea what was going on "I think it's… cute. And look at that," she cooed, looking closer at the purple writing as if she actually needed to "He wrote 'Love'."

"Casey," Olivia sighed "Can we just go see him now?"

"Sure thing," Casey smiled and pushed Olivia out into the hall. They made the trip to Elliot's room in record time due to Casey's speedy, if not at times suicidal, wheelchair pushing.

Elliot looked up and smiled "Hello ladies," he greeted.

Casey wheeled Olivia up to the side of Elliot's bed. She made as if she was going to take a seat in a nearby chair when suddenly she jumped to her feet "You know what," she said suddenly "I forgot to get a cup of coffee this morning," it really sounded like a lame excuse. "I should go get some now."

Before Elliot or Olivia could stop her she was gone. Elliot looked at the expression on Olivia's face and knew "What did he do?" he asked with a knowing smile.

Olivia lifted her cast incased foot onto the bed "I can't believe he managed to do it while I was asleep," she muttered.

Elliot read what had been written and laughed. When Olivia shot him a death glare he simply threw his head back and laughed harder. "So that's what he meant," he managed to say between guffaws.

"Mind explaining what's so funny?" Olivia asked and Elliot sobered instantly at the sound of her tone. She was dead serious about this.

"Fin was here about an hour ago," Elliot explained.

"Fin?" Olivia asked "Just Fin?"

"As far as I know," Elliot told her "He came in here, picked up the pink sharpie and left."

"Did you try and talk him out of it?" she asked.

Elliot threw his hands up in defense "Yes I did," he explained, hoping that she wouldn't take her anger out on him.

"I'm gonna get him good," Olivia muttered.

Elliot let his head fall back once more "Oh no," he said simply. This was going to get very interesting.

Olivia removed her leg from the bed and smiled "So how was your night?" she asked as she took his hand.

"I missed you," he said honestly.

"I missed you too," she smiled warmly. She hadn't even gotten to sleep until early in the morning. She had spent most of her time tossing and turning, trying to remind herself that Elliot was okay. Memories of the ambulance ride kept creeping into her mind.

"Are you okay?" Elliot had noticed how the expression on her face changed.

Olivia snapped out of her thoughts and looked at him "Yeah," she whispered. In a way, she owed Fin for giving her something to take her mind off the current situation. Matheson was still out there and who knew how many more victims would end up in the morgue, how many case files would pile up on the desks at SVU before he was caught. She simply tightened her grip on Elliot's hand "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he whispered back without missing a beat. He brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear "I promise, it's gonna be okay. We'll get him."

Olivia smiled softly, releasing Elliot's hand briefly so that she could run the back of her hand over her eyes to wipe away the moisture that had begun to gather and threatened to become tears. This man knew her so well and could make her feel safe with just a few words. She didn't know what she would do if anything ever happened to him.

Elliot took her hand again "So how long until you get out of here?" he asked.

Olivia thought for a second; her mind needed time to catch up to the sudden topic change "Uh, just a couple of days," she told him "They just need to make sure the bones are set properly.

"You're gonna need someone to stay with you until those casts come off," Elliot stated, his voice full of concern.

Olivia smiled "Are you offering?"

"Unfortunately," Elliot began "I'm probably going to be here longer than a couple of days," he had been informed by his doctor just a little while before Casey had brought Olivia to see him that he would need to be hospitalized for at least two weeks.

"Oh," Olivia said somewhat disappointedly but soon she cheered up "I'll ask Casey when she gets back."

Casey returned to the room a few minutes later and if Elliot and Olivia hadn't heard her coming, she would have caught them in a similar position to the one that Cragen had found them in the night before. Casey wouldn't have noticed though; the first thing she did when she arrived was to walk over to the TV on the wall and turn on the news. Olivia and Elliot's attentions soon turned to the report on the screen.

"Sources close to the Bedford family say that the funeral of Jack Bedford will be sometime this weekend. Jack was killed last night by Luke Matheson who has eluded capture by the NYPD thus far."

The picture on the screen shifted from an old mug shot of Luke Matheson to Jack's brother Charles Bedford.

"Jack was deeply troubled by Ryan's death," Charles began "He made some bad decisions and we are deeply sorry for any pain those decisions may have caused."

Olivia and Elliot looked at each other, each one thinking about how close the other had come to being killed. 'We're sorry' didn't really do much in the long run.

"We only hope that Jack's last actions on this planet were able to redeem him in some small way," Charles continued.

Again, Elliot and Olivia looked at each other. It was true that if it hadn't been for Jack, they wouldn't have been injured in the first place but if it hadn't been for Jack's tackling Matheson, they would both probably be lying face up on slabs in the morgue. It was complicated.

The screen switched back to Matheson's picture "Anyone who has seen Luke Matheson is urged to call the police immediately. He is to be considered armed and dangerous."

The news changed to a story about road rage and Casey turned the TV off. "Bedford doesn't seem too sad that his brother is dead," she remarked.

Olivia nodded solemnly "He could just be in shock," she said but she had noticed the lack of emotion in Bedford's words.

Elliot simply sat in deep thought. Charles was Ryan's father. It seemed strange now that he thought about it that Ryan's uncle would be the one to seek vengeance for Ryan's death. Elliot looked over at Olivia and knew that she was thinking the same thing. This was far from over.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Luke Matheson slid through an open basement window of an abandoned building. How had that guy found him? It seemed like it had happened completely by accident but it was too big of a coincidence that two NYPD detectives had been involved.

Whatever the case, he was on the run now. He had to hide out and wait for the heat to die down. He sank onto the floor of the basement. It was getting late in the day and he was starting to get hungry but he had no money for food and he couldn't risk showing his face in public. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the piece of paper with the phone number of the man who sometimes gave him money for odd jobs. He wondered if he could risk calling him.

He ventured out of the basement again in search of a payphone. He had enough change for a phone call at least. He was almost positive that this man wouldn't turn him in; he had done some work for him even after the first time that the news had circulated his picture.

He found a phone and dialed the number. He waited until the person on the other end picked up "Yes," he began "Is Mr. Bedford there please?"

**A/N: DUN, DUN, DUN. What did I tell you? Far from over. Okay guys, you know what to do.**


	10. Chapter 10

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 10:**

**A/N: I love, love, love, all of you wonderful people. Keep those wonderful reviews coming; you guys are awesome! This chapter is dedicated to AliasCSINYFriendsER because she is just so cool and everyone should read her story "Forget Me Not" and then harass her to update it.**

A chorus of laughter erupted in Elliot's room as poor Fin was pinned in the corner by Olivia. The doctor had suggested that Olivia get some practice with the crutches before she was released. She had been practicing all day and when Fin and Munch had shown up, she stood up from the chair and headed straight for Fin. He had backed into the corner and that's where he remained with one of Olivia's crutches digging into his stomach. Cragen and Casey were sitting beside Elliot's bed and everyone was laughing hysterically.

Fin threw his hands up in the air "I'm sorry," he pleaded.

"Damn right you're sorry," Olivia was taking this probably more seriously than she should. She had been so afraid that Matheson would come after her and Elliot. She didn't like the idea that someone could sneak into her hospital room and get as close as Fin did. She trusted Fin of course and knew that he would never hurt her but it was just terrifying that she was that vulnerable.

"Liv," John said softly from behind her. He could tell that she was on edge. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she spun around, losing her balance instantly. John caught her before she could hurt herself.

"Let me go," she almost screamed as the crutches clattered to the floor and she pounded against Munch's chest with her good hand.

Elliot tried to stand up at that moment but Cragen laid a hand on his shoulder. Elliot knew he was supposed to stay in bed or risk further injury. His heart broke for Olivia as she completely fell apart before his eyes.

John brought her back to sit in the chair she had been occupying before as everyone looked on in confusion. As soon as she was with in reach of him, Elliot reached out to her, not caring that everyone was watching "Liv," he whispered as he was able to pull him onto the bed beside him. "Honey, what is it?" he was beyond concerned at this point.

Casey herded the guys out of the room "Come on you guys," she said in a hushed voice.

Fin took one last look at Olivia before he left the room. He had no idea when he wrote on her cast that it was going to affect her like this and he was pretty sure that it was more than just not being to fond of the color pink. He shrugged and followed the others out of the room.

Elliot held her against him and she wrapped her arms around him as she trembled "It's okay," he whispered. "He didn't mean anything by it," somehow, Elliot knew that this went deeper than Fin's little practical joke.

"I know," she whispered through her tears "I just… I just can't believe that I didn't hear him come in."

"You were exhausted," Elliot told her soothingly "It's okay."

"But what if it wasn't Fin?" she asked and suddenly her fear became clear to him.

"Liv," he pressed a tender kiss to her lips. He couldn't tell her that she was one hundred percent safe in a hospital. Olivia herself had handled more than one case where a victim had been abducted from a hospital. He found himself at a loss for words.

They lay like that for a long time before Casey poked her head back in. "Everything okay?" she asked, taking a step inside the room.

Olivia looked up, wiping her eyes dry with the back of her hand "Yeah," she said in a small voice. Casey turned to the others in the hallway and ushered them back inside the room. Olivia looked up at each of them and forced a smile. It really wasn't anyone's fault that she was feeling so vulnerable. The only one to blame was Matheson. "Sorry guys," she said genuinely.

Cragen cleared his throat "We should probably be getting back to work now anyway." He turned to Munch and Fin "Come on you two," and the three men left the room.

Casey took a seat once more "I should probably get going soon too," she told them. She had a hunch about Charles Bedford and she needed to do some research. "Do you need me to help you back to your room before I leave?" she asked Olivia.

"Nah," Olivia said quietly "I'll get one of the nurses to help me." She really didn't want to leave Elliot so soon. She didn't like the idea that she needed someone to help her from one hospital room to the other.

"Okay," Casey smiled softly in understanding. She got up and retrieved Olivia's crutches from the far side of the room and propped them up against Elliot's bedside. "You should probably be getting a little more practice with these," she smiled.

"Thanks Case," Olivia smiled back at her friend.

"Anytime," Casey gave Olivia a pat on the shoulder before turning to leave "You to behave yourselves now," she shot back over her shoulder with a mischievous grin.

Elliot and Olivia rolled their eyes simultaneously "Goodbye Casey," they said at the same time before breaking into laughter.

Casey paused at the door and turned around "Bye, bye," she grinned and winked causing Elliot and Olivia to laugh harder.

"Ooh," Elliot breathed when Casey has left. Laughing took its toll on his injuries.

"You all right?" Olivia asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Elliot reassured her quickly. He was fine. He just needed to catch his breath. A few seconds later and had recovered from the laughter. He took Olivia's hand and smile "Just gotta take it easy I guess."

Olivia leaned in and kissed his lips. She smiled softly "I guess I'll just have to be sure not to make you laugh," she said, half playfully, half seriously.

Elliot smiled back at her "You can try," he said as he kissed her "But I have a funny feeling you won't succeed."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Casey's eyes scanned the information on the computer screen in front of her. She knew Jack Bedford's name had sounded familiar when she had first heard it and now she knew why. He had been a private investigator on a case that she had prosecuted four years ago back when she had been in white collar crimes. She had never met him personally but from all accounts and what she saw on the screen before her, he had been one of the best.

But he didn't work for the DA's office anymore and hadn't for at least two years. Casey wondered why until she looked an idea hit her and she looked up cases that had been tried around that time period. There in front of her was the reason that Jack Bedford had quit. It was also perhaps the reason that he was dead. If Casey's hunch was right, this was big. She quickly printed out the information and went to tell Cragen and the others.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Charles Bedford was inedited for embezzlement two years ago," Casey began to explain. "His brother Jack was supposed to be investigating the case. Jack quit and left town for a while so no one could find him to serve him with a subpoena to testify against his brother."

"Do you think Jack knew something?" Cragen enquired.

"There's not a doubt in my mind," Casey replied "And that's probably why Charles had him killed."

"You're starting to sound like my partner," Fin spoke up.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Munch murmured before adding somewhat reluctantly "Do you have any hard evidence to support this?"

"Well no," Casey started "But I'm sure it's there if you just go looking for it."

"You're suggesting we go looking for something that isn't there?" Munch asked "You really are starting to sound like me."

"Charles Bedford was acquitted because of lack of evidence," Casey nearly shouted "Jack must have known something about his brother. Something connected to the embezzlement of course but something so big that if Jack decided to turn on Charles even after the acquittal, Charles could be put on trial for it and go to jail for a very long time."

"Take it easy Casey," Cragen said calmingly, putting a hand on her shoulder. She was spouting off theories so fast that she was out of breath. "Breathe," he instructed.

"This is too insane even for me," Munch told her.

"Besides," Fin reminded her "Matheson's the one who killed Jack."

Casey had caught her breath by this point "They have to be connected somehow."

"I think you need to get some rest," Fin told her "One crackpot theorist is all we can handle around here."

"Again," Munch muttered "I'll take that as a compliment."

"The connection has to be there," Casey protested.

"I'll drive you home," Fin said as he grabbed his coat. He walked Casey out of the precinct and to his car. "You're just under a lot of stress," he told her "We all are with everything that's been happening."

"If you say so," Casey murmured but somehow, she knew she was right.

**A/N: Okay, I promised myself that I would get at least one more chapter up before tonight's episode and I believe I have done that looks at what she's written yeah, I think this is a chapter LOL.**


	11. Chapter 11

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 11:**

**A/N: Okay, here's another chapter. It's kind of short but there's a reason for that, a reason that will become very clear at the end evil grin. This chapter is for obsessedwithstabler because she said if I updated, then she would update. I hope you like this chapter girl.**

"I'll come visit every day," Olivia bent down and gave Elliot a quick one armed hug. She was getting discharged from the hospital and she was having separation issues already. She had practically spent the last two days curled up beside Elliot and now the prospect of a week and a half without him next to her seemed so frightening.

"Be careful," Elliot whispered as he snuck a quick kiss; Casey had told them both about her theory that Charles Bedford had had his own brother killed and Elliot was afraid that they were both still in danger, not to mention the fact that Matheson was still out there.

"Aren't I always?" she smiled but when he didn't say anything she thought about it and realized that she was indeed sometimes reckless. She had a habit of making dangerous decisions. "I promise I'll stay out of trouble," she grinned impishly.

He pulled her close again and whispered in her ear "I love you. Please be safe."

Olivia kissed him again "You shouldn't be worrying so much," she reminded him "I'll be okay," she smiled and kissed him yet another time "I love you too," she whispered before straightening up.

"We'll be back tomorrow afternoon," Casey told Elliot as she handed Olivia her crutches.

"Okay," Elliot waved as the two women walked out of the hospital room. Olivia really had gotten quite good on those crutches and he admired her skill. She could keep up with Casey at normal walking speed and Elliot almost wished that she would move a little bit slower as she disappeared out the door and down the hall.

Elliot sighed and flipped on the TV. He didn't know why he still watched the channel ten news; they had very little interest in journalistic integrity. He sighed and simply watched. Charles Bedford was giving a press conference. Elliot leaned forward just slightly, interested to see what this jackass had to say now.

"The killing has to stop my friends," Elliot scoffed at the words. They were easy to say, hard to enforce. They were just pretty words coming from a man that the media had tried to portray as a grieving father and brother although he didn't appear that way in the least. "My brother and my son are dead. No other human being should be forced to suffer such a loss. But many do. That's why today, I am founding the Ryan Bedford center for grief counseling."

Noble though it sounded, Elliot had the funny feeling that this grief counseling center was not as innocent as it sounded.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Casey," Olivia stared confusedly at her friend "Why are we stopped here?" They were parked in front of an immaculate Upper East Side brownstone.

"This is Jack Bedford's place," Casey explained as she got out of the car.

"What the…?" Olivia muttered as she opened the door on her side and quickly followed after Casey. One of her crutches struck something and she nearly stumbled but quickly recovered. She looked down to see what it was and groaned at the empty soda can. It seemed strange that someone who kept such good care of their house would leave a soda can on their front steps like this but Jack had of course been dead now for several days. She hadn't gotten much practice with her crutches on stairs so she struggled for a moment "Casey," she called out as she saw the red head pull a key from under the mat "What the hell are we doing here?"

"Jack knew something," Casey said as she stuck the key in the lock "There must be something here that can tell us what."

"You're nuts," Olivia said as she finally got to the top of the stairs. "The only thing Jack knew was how to not get caught."

"That's the kind of thing that makes a great PI," Casey told her as she pushed the door open. She went in followed closely by Olivia. The two women stopped short in the entry way. The place was a mess, it didn't seem to fit Jack's personality.

"We shouldn't be here Casey," Olivia said softly. She had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She found herself remembering her promise to Elliot and she knew that simply by standing here in this ransacked house, she had broken it.

"There has to be some evidence here," Casey told her as she moved further into the house.

"Casey," Olivia called, not willing to go any further into the house; the floor was so littered with books, pictures and garbage that she didn't want to navigate through it with her crutches. "Someone's been here already. If there was anything here, it's long gone by now."

"They must have missed something," Casey muttered. She wasn't denying that someone had to have been there but she was almost positive that who ever it was, was long gone by now. But when she turned the corner into the kitchen and saw the half eaten sandwich sitting on the table, she had a funny feeling that that wasn't the case. "Liv," she called out as she walked toward the sandwich and carefully touched the bread, it wasn't dried out in the least.

Olivia didn't respond. Casey turned and headed back to where she had left her friend "Olivia?" she called when she didn't see her right away.

"Casey," Olivia called feebly from the floor and when Casey moved to help her up, she saw the reason why Olivia had fallen. Olivia looked up at Casey with fear in her eyes. "Run!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Matheson said as he grabbed Casey and tied her hands behind her back. "Well, well, well," Matheson grinned "Two for the price of one."

**A/N: Muwahahahaha I await your reviews. I'd love to here from all of you just how evil I am.**


	12. Chapter 12

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 12:**

**A/N: Okay, so out of fear of the lynch mobs that I'm sure some of my wonderful reviewers have started to form already, here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it and I'd love to hear from you guys. This chapter is for Essy, Kay, obsessedwithstabler and one of my newest reviewers Kinseyjo**

Casey and Olivia sat on the couch in the living room of Jack Bedford's brownstone as Luke Matheson paced back and forth in front of them, talking into a cell phone. His mood was fluctuating wildly as he gestured around him as if the person on the other end could see him.

"I didn't even have to go after her," he started, sounding almost proud "She showed up here." His mood suddenly changed and he sounded worried "She's not alone though… That prosecutor lady," he explained.

"Casey," Olivia whispered while Matheson was distracted by the phone call. There was no chance of her being able to get away but Casey had two working legs. Olivia would be damned if she was going to let this bastard hurt anyone else. "I'll distract him and you make a run for it."

"Did you hit your head when he knocked you down?" Casey whispered back.

"Probably," Olivia answered honestly "But that has nothing to do with this. You have the evidence of the connection between Bedford and Matheson. Now get out of here and tell the others." Casey opened her mouth to protest but Olivia cut her off "Not a word Casey. When I make my move, you run. Understand?"

Casey nodded silently. She had been the one to drag Olivia into this mess. She didn't want to leave her friend but Olivia had a point. If they were going to stop Matheson and figure out what Bedford was up to someone needed to escape to warn the police.

"Right," Matheson grinned into the phone. The deal that he and the person on the other end had reached allowed him to keep only one of his beautiful catches but one was better than none at all. He hung up and turned to the two women on the couch in front of him. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could utter a single syllable, Olivia had used her good arm and leg to propel herself off the couch.

Olivia slammed into Matheson full force, knocking him to the ground. Matheson narrowly missed hitting his head and tried to get up but Olivia punched him with her good arm. "Go Casey!" Olivia called and Casey did as she was told.

Her hands were still tied behind her back but somehow with some tricky maneuvering she managed to get the door open and ran down the stairs. As soon as she was outside, she started yelling for help. She started running down the street, looking for someone who could help her.

About a block away, she ran into a couple who stared at her in awe. "Are you okay?" the woman asked as she reached for her husband's pocket knife to cut the rope around Casey's wrists.

"Please," Casey gasped "Do you have a cell phone I could use?" The man nodded and handed it to her. Casey dialed with lightening speed. Cragen answered and Casey wasted no time in telling him everything that had just happened.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When the squad cars pulled up in front of the house, Casey's car was gone from out front. The front door was open and there was no sign of Matheson or Olivia anywhere.

Casey simply stood there in shock "Oh God," she whispered. All she could think about was how she should have never left in the first place. Fin and Munch walked over to her and before either man could speak she just began muttering "She told me to run. I was so scared. I didn't want to leave her alone with him but…"

John put a hand on her shoulder "It's okay," he reassured her.

Casey turned away "No it's not," she whispered in response before walking away. She had told the police everything she knew, there was no reason for her to stay there any longer. She hailed a cab and headed to the hospital; someone had to tell Elliot about what had happened. She felt her stomach churning as she stepped out of the cab. She took a deep breath and walked into the hospital, walking as if part of a funeral procession. She knew that she would never be forgiven for this and she knew she didn't deserve to be.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Matheson dragged Olivia through the back entrance of an abandoned warehouse. To Olivia's credit, she hadn't made it easy for him to get her there. She had fought him to the best of her ability every step but with only one good arm and one good leg she was at a marked disadvantage.

Matheson shoved her to the ground and she landed hard, emitting a small groan. When she looked up, she saw a man step out of the shadows. It was Charles Bedford. "What the…?" Olivia nearly gasped. She hadn't really believed Casey when she talked about a connection between Matheson and Bedford; Matheson had killed Jack and stolen his car, it made sense that if he took Jack's car keys, he would probably have his house keys as well.

"Good work," Bedford said as he handed a wad of money to Matheson.

Matheson accepted the money and then turned to Olivia. She recognized the gleam in his eye as he came towards her and backed away from him. "Oh now," he whispered sweetly "Don't be like that," he reached out and pulled her towards him.

"Stop it right there," Bedford commanded and he grabbed Matheson's arm. He could ignore what Matheson had done as long as it wasn't done in front of him. Charles Bedford may have been a lot of things but he was not about to sit idly by and let Matheson hurt this woman anymore. Besides, he told himself as he twisted Matheson's arm until the other man had no choice but to face him, he needed her alive.

Matheson pushed Bedford away "Don't get in my way," he hissed and turned back to Olivia who was too stunned by the scene playing out in front of her to do anything.

"You're of no use to me anymore anyway," Bedford told him.

The gunshot resonated loudly in the empty warehouse. Olivia hadn't even seen the gun but the next thing she knew, Luke Matheson was lying dead in front of her, shot through the chest, his blood collecting beneath him in a dark crimson puddle. She looked up and saw Charles Bedford lowering his weapon. She managed to stand and even though without her crutches she was relatively unsteady, she managed to back away further.

Bedford moved closer to her "At last we meet Detective Benson," he smiled.

"You stay away from me," she said in her most threatening voice as her eyes scanned the room for something she could use to defend herself.

"Is that anyway to talk to your host?" Bedford questioned and Olivia fixed him with an indignant stare.

"You had your own brother killed, your lackey nearly killed my partner and me and then after you have him kidnap me, you shoot him. You're just another scumbag." She spotted a two by four lying on the floor a few feet away and wondered if she could reach it without being noticed; it was no match for Bedford's gun but maybe she could use it to disarm him.

"That isn't fair," Bedford defended "You of all people my dear should know that the world is full of shades of gray."

**A/N: Well it's not an evil cliff hanger but then again when someone is in the clutches of evil, isn't that technically a cliff hanger? Please review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 13:**

**A/N: You guys are so wonderful! I love you and all of your reviews! This chapter clears a few things up and raises a few more questions. I hope you all like it and I can't wait to see more of your wonderful reviews. This chapter is for TV Angel 711 who said that she would put down the torches and pitchforks if I kept going. I appreciate the gesture looks around nervously to see if other readers are dropping their weapons also Enjoy!**

Charles Bedford led Olivia down into the basement of the warehouse "I wasn't expecting you for a little while," he smiled at her as and she wanted to smack him but he had a firm grip on her good arm. "You'll have to forgive the arrangements," he led her into a room with a cot against one wall. The room also had a small refrigerator, a microwave and a television as well as other pieces of furniture.

There was a small bed against the other wall. A little girl with honey colored hair and sad blue eyes sat on the bed, biting down hard on her lower lip. Olivia sank onto the cot and looked up at Charles "Who is she?" she asked almost immediately after spotting the child.

"This," Charles said, picking up the little girl who neither backed away from him nor came to him willingly "Is my granddaughter Clara." He handed the little girl to Olivia without seeming to care that he was handing her over to a complete stranger.

Olivia looked at the little girl who couldn't have been more than two. As far as she knew Ryan Charles's only child so this girl had to be Ryan's daughter. She looked up at Charles with only questions swimming in her eyes.

Charles closed the door to the room and took a seat in a nearby chair "It's a long story Detective Benson. Lucky for you, I'm in a sharing mood right now." He looked at his watch, he had half an hour before he was supposed to be in front of the cameras again for his next press conference.

Olivia situated the child in her lap. Lucky for Charles Bedford she was in a listening mood right now. She had been trying to figure out how she could make her escape but the second she had seen Clara, all those thoughts had been pushed to the back of her mind. She now knew that any escape attempt she made would have to include this child.

"You see," Charles began "About two years ago a girl showed up at our house in the middle of the night. Her name was Hannah Davis."

Olivia remembered that name. Hannah Davis's body had been found two years ago. She was only fifteen but had a C-section scar that the ME had determined couldn't be more than a week old. The child had never been found. Olivia started to fit the pieces together in her mind "You killed her," she whispered, her good arm clutching Clara tighter. This man was ruthless and seemingly heartless.

"She and Ryan were going to get married," he said as if that reason alone was enough to justify murder "Our family couldn't take that kind of a scandal," Charles sighed heavily "Unfortunately Ryan turned to drugs soon afterwards."

"Why did you keep the baby?" Olivia asked. This man just seemed too heartless to have spared the life of an infant for any reason.

"My wife thought she was cute," Charles sighed again with the memories of Sarah.

"Jack knew," Olivia whispered "That's why you had him killed."

"Jack knew a lot of things," Charles told her "He promised he would never turn me in but I knew if the right opportunity came along, he would jump at the chance to sell me out."

"Not everyone is a cold bastard like you are," Olivia hissed.

"Detective," Charles nodded at Clara "Watch your language, there are young ears in the room," he was amused with himself as he watched the expression on Olivia's face, a mixture of hate towards him and acceptance that he was right to caution her in her use of words.

"Did your wife get tired of her?" Olivia asked bitterly after a few moments of thought. She didn't really feel comfortable talking about the child in her lap as if she wasn't there.

"Sarah loved her," Charles defended his wife "Sarah never stopped loving that child. But when Ryan died, she just couldn't handle it anymore. Clara just reminded her of how Ryan was never coming home again," Charles paused, the expression on his face turning dark "Because of your partner, my wife killed herself."

Olivia didn't believe him. If Sarah Bedford had killed herself it would have been a major story on the news. "You're lying," she said simply.

"No I'm not," Charles countered "I had to keep her death a secret. Sarah was as concerned with image as I am. She would have never wanted anyone to know that her life had ended that way. I hid her in a coffin in the basement," his voice faltered and Olivia could see that this cold man did indeed have a heart when his eyes misted over "I poured lime over her to suppress the smell," he explained.

"I'm sorry," Olivia whispered. She felt pity for this man. He had lost his wife and son all in such a short time period. Still, that did not excuse any of what he had done.

"You should be," Charles spat out as soon as he composed himself "Your partner is the reason that she's dead and because of you, the whole world knows was a disgrace Ryan really was."

Olivia felt her pity dissolve instantly back into hatred. Clara was running her small hand along Olivia's cast gingerly and Olivia looked down at the little girl. In the time since Olivia had arrived, Clara hadn't so much as made a noise or shown an interest in anything. Clara looked up into Olivia's eyes and Olivia could see a look she knew all too well. It was the look of a child who while her needs physically had been met, she had been all but neglected emotionally.

Charles looked at his watch again and stood up "I'll be seeing you," he said to Olivia.

Olivia could tell that he didn't see her as much of a threat and she would have said something if she weren't afraid for Clara. Perhaps Charles Bedford knew that while his granddaughter's life meant little to him, Olivia wouldn't let any innocent person get hurt if she could help it. Perhaps that was why Olivia wasn't a threat.

"There's a bathroom through that door," Charles pointed out "And there's food and water in the fridge. Clara's clothes are over there in that dresser," he pointed to a little two drawer dresser next to Clara's bed that Olivia hadn't really noticed before "I don't have any clothes for you yet," he said almost apologetically "But I'll get you some." He headed towards the door "I'll be back tonight."

He shut the door behind him and Olivia could hear the sound of a heavy deadbolt clicking into place. She looked down at Clara again "I guess it's just you and me little miss," she tried to sound cheerful but Clara didn't look like she bought the act. Olivia sighed and pulled Clara as close to her as she could "It's gonna be okay," she whispered "It's gonna be okay."

**A/N: Little Clara came to me in a dream… sort of. Anyway I figured this was an interesting twist but I'm not sure. I can't wait to hear what you guys thought of it.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 14:**

**A/N: Oh my gosh! I can't believe how amazing you people are! I love you guys so much! This chapter is for AliasCSINYFriendsER because today is her birthday and she asked me if I would update as a present to her. Happy Birthday honey!**

Casey sat there for a long time after telling Elliot what had happened. She didn't know what else to say. This was something that could not be mended by words. All the apologies in the world wouldn't change the fact that she had done what Olivia told her to do without a second thought. All the fear that she had felt in that moment was meaningless. She took a deep breath. She had hoped that she wouldn't have had to go far to find help and when she had, she had thought that they could get back to the house before Olivia and Matheson disappeared. She looked up at Elliot and saw the hurt in his face, the lost look in his eyes "I'm sorry," she whispered even though she knew that they were hollow words.

"Don't be," Elliot told her simply. He didn't have the strength to be mad now. He couldn't be mad at Casey for wanting to help, that was after all, the reason she had entered that house in the first place. I wasn't Casey's fault that Matheson had been there and it wasn't Casey's fault that Olivia did what her own nature dictated and did whatever she could to protect someone else. There was no reason that he should be mad at Casey, she was not the one who deserved his anger.

Fin ran into the room at that moment, interrupting the awkward silence that had fallen. "Bedford's holding another press conference," he explained as he turned on the TV.

Charles Bedford stood in front of an old run down looking warehouse "Thanks to all of your generous donations," he began "This once useless eyesore will soon be transformed into a place of healing for the citizens of this fair city."

"Yeah right," Elliot muttered. There was no doubt in his mind now that Bedford either was involved directly with Matheson's taking Olivia or he at least knew where she was.

"Something about this grief counseling thing doesn't sit right with me," Casey said. She knew Bedford had to know what was going on.

There was a knock on the open door of Elliot's room "Mind if I join you," Ruben Morales said as he entered holding a folder that was nearly bursting with papers. News of Olivia's disappearance had spread fast and Morales had begun his own investigation.

"What have you got there?" Elliot asked, looking at the folder in Ruben's hands. Ruben was a friend but he and Elliot weren't really all that close outside of the work environment. Elliot knew that if Ruben had taken the time to come see him then whatever he found had was sure to be very interesting and perhaps the break they needed to find Olivia.

Casey and Fin leaned closer as Ruben took several papers out of the folder. "I did some digging into where all of these 'donations' that Bedford has been getting are going." The other three nodded, silently pleading with him to continue. "He's talking about a major renovation on a building that should by all rights be condemned," Ruben continued "The money is going directly into his greedy little pocket."

"I knew it couldn't be about him wanting to help people," Elliot muttered.

"That greedy son-of-a-bitch," Fin put in. Still, all of them knew that this did nothing to help them find Olivia.

"That's not all," Ruben continued.

Fin's cell phone began to ring and he held up a hand for silence. He answered it and talked for a few minutes before hanging up and turning to the others "They found your car Casey," he told her. "It was in the East River."

"Any sign of Olivia?" Elliot asked quickly. He was about ready to jump out of the hospital bed, doctor's orders be damned.

"No," Fin told him solemnly "But Matheson was in the driver's seat. Someone shot him through the chest."

The room was overtaken by silence. After several minutes, they all turned to Ruben who cleared his throat uneasily before continuing where he had left off. "The warehouse is ensured for a lot of money."

"How much money are we talking about?" Fin was the one to ask the question; Casey was studying her shoes very closely and Elliot was still thinking about what it meant if Matheson was dead. They would have found Olivia by now unless someone else had taken her.

"Four million dollars," Ruben answered Fin's question "That's more than a building like that should be ensured for."

The realization hit them all at the same time. Bedford was planning to collect on his policy. It was the only thing that made sense for a greedy person such as him. And he could only collect if the building was destroyed. This still didn't help them find Olivia though.

"One more thing," Ruben took out the last of the papers from the folder. "Even though Bedford isn't planning to do any renovations on that building now, he did have some electrical and plumbing work done a few months ago."

"Why?" Elliot asked as he took the papers that Ruben was holding and looked at them. As he looked at the information he realized that Bedford must have been planning something long before Ryan's death. What he had been planning, Elliot wasn't sure. "This is just too strange," Elliot murmured as he scanned the information again. Only one small part of the warehouse had been worked on, one corner of the basement.

Casey peered over Elliot's shoulder "Electrical, plumbing even a cable hook up," she said out loud "Seems like almost everything you would need except…"

"Except a phone line," Ruben finished. It was true, the work orders in front of them that were now spread out across Elliot's lap so everyone could see them, allowed for every comfort of modern life with the exception of contact with the outside world.

"Maybe the warehouse already had an existing phone system?" Casey suggested.

"I checked," Ruben told her "It doesn't."

"This is suspicious," Fin muttered.

"But no judge in the world would sing a warrant based on this," Casey told him "We don't even know if there's something we should be looking for down there."

"That has to be where Olivia is," Elliot stated plainly. He had no idea why he felt so strongly that she was there but he did. He started to get out of bed when Casey put a hand on his shoulder.

"You don't know that," she said sadly. She looked at Fin and at Ruben "The three of us will see if we can sneak in to take a look, you stay here," she told Elliot firmly.

Elliot nodded reluctantly.

"Don't worry man," Fin reassured him before they left "If she's there, we'll find her."

Elliot leaned back in his hospital bed and sighed heavily. He hated feeling so damned useless. But he knew that Casey was right. He had to stay in the hospital; he didn't have the energy to go sneaking around warehouses in broad daylight. The simple effort of staying sitting upright during the last half hour had left him drained. He felt a yawn escape him and could feel himself drifting off. He hoped Fin was right and that they would find her. There was no doubt in his mind that she was there, he just hoped they could find her. "Good luck," he murmured as he let his eyes drift closed.

**A/N: Well that's chapter fourteen. I hope you all enjoyed it. And to those of you who asked if I was going to include Olivia's brother in this story… I probably won't write anything like that until after I've seen "Philadelphia" (I'm just too much of a slave to the show and LOL) but if you guys want to read something with him in it, I highly recommend "Like Father, Like Son" by KaydenceRei. It is extremely well written.**


	15. Chapter 15

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 15:**

**A/N: Finally, I finished the next chapter. I hope you all like it. I love reading all of your wonderful reviews. This chapter is for JusticeIsBlind13, her review made me smile. I'm glad that there are others out there who harbor a soft spot in their hearts for one Ruben Morales.**

Olivia watched Clara very closely. The child never spoke, never smiled it broke Olivia's heart. Clara slid off of Olivia's lap and landed softly on the floor. She reached out and ran her tiny hand over the pink hearts on the cast on Olivia's foot.

Olivia smiled softly "You like those huh?" she asked.

Clara nodded, withdrawing her hand instantly as if she had done something wrong by touching the cast.

"It's okay," Olivia reassured her and reached down with her good arm to pick Clara up again. Deep in her heart, Olivia wanted nothing more than to make this little girl smile. "You wanna hear a story?" she asked, hoping to distract not only the child's mind but her own from their current situation.

Clara nodded and nuzzled closer to Olivia.

Olivia smiled and took a deep breath "Once upon a time," she began.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"The old blow hard's still out front playing to the cameras," Casey said as she met up with Fin and Ruben at the back of the warehouse.

"Casey," Fin said as his hand reached for the handle of the door "I can't believe I'm the one telling you this but this isn't exactly legal."

Casey took a deep breath. She had made a stupid mistake that had put her friend's life in danger. Sometimes laws needed to be broken "I know," she whispered solemnly. She reached past Fin and pulled on the handle of the door. It opened with a metallic groan. She took a step inside and turned back to the two men who stood behind her "You guys can turn back if you want."

Fin and Ruben shook their heads "Nah," Fin said, half smiling "We're with ya girl."

Casey smiled and the three of them ventured into the warehouse.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charles Bedford stared into the sea of reporters, each one eager to ask him questions about his effort to bring some piece of mind to the trouble souls of the city. He smirked inwardly. These people were such sheep. They would believe any line he fed them as long as it sounded noble. He scanned the eager faces in the crowd and spotted one near the back who looked like he would bust if he didn't ask his question soon. "Yes," Charles pointed to the reporter "You in the back."

The reporter cleared his throat "Is their any truth to the rumor that you conspired to kill your brother and with the help of wanted rapist and murderer Luke Matheson, you orchestrated the kidnapping of Detective Olivia Benson earlier today."

Charles nearly lost his composure right there. He knew that the kidnapping of the detective was big news and that that prosecutor had escaped but he had been so confident that not even she would have made the connection. He cleared his throat "I'm not sure where you get your information," he said to the reporter in back "But I can assure you that I would never associate with scum like Luke Matheson. How dare you try and twist the grief that my family has gone through into some sick revenge plot."

His words seemed to have the desired effect on the crowd. A few people standing near the reporter began shouting things at him, telling him to leave. One of them shoved him and for a moment it looked like a fight would break out. But the reporter managed to suck out of the crowd and disappeared around the corner.

Charles ran his hand over his face "Please," he said softly, putting on his best act for the overly excited reporters "Don't be angry with him for trying to seek the truth. He may have been misinformed but he was only trying to do his job just like all of you. There is no shame in that," again the sheep hung on his every word and even applauded him when he had finished. He couldn't resist giving a little bow of his head before adding "No more questions today," in a tired voice. He turned and headed into the warehouse to his "office" while his bodyguards hurded the mob of reporters away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Casey, Fin and Ruben split up, searching every corner of the basement for the room that the work orders indicated had to be there. The warehouse's basement was enormous and they hadn't found it yet. Suddenly there was a noise from the top of the staircase at the opposite end of the basement from where Casey was standing.

Her heart beat wildly as in a loud whisper she called out "Guys."

The two were at her side in an instant "Someone's coming," Fin told her.

"Ya think," she shot back "Gee Fin, I couldn't tell that already."

"Over here," Ruben pulled the others towards a stack of old crates, probably left over from the warehouse's more useful days.

All three gasped when they saw what was behind the crates. It was the door they had been looking for. It had a heavy deadbolt but that seemed to be the only lock. Fin lifted the bolt as quietly as he could and pulled the door open. All the while the footsteps were coming closer.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Olivia had leaned back against the wall. Clara had fallen asleep while Olivia had been telling stories to her. Olivia wondered if this was the longest anyone had ever paid attention to the small child. The mood in the room had become relaxed, that is of course until Olivia heard the deadbolt sliding open. She stiffened instantly and sat up. The sudden movement woke Clara who stared up at Olivia with wide eyes "It's okay sweetie," Olivia whispered, trying to keep her voice calm. There was no doubt in her mind that Charles Bedford was on the other side of that door.

Imagine her surprise when the door opened and she saw Casey, Fin and of all people, Ruben Morales standing there looking at her with astonishment. She was so relieved that she almost jumped to her feet and she would have if it weren't for the fact that as soon as she started to move, her injured foot hurt and her one good arm struggled not to drop Clara.

"Come on," Fin said as he quickly picked Olivia up "We have to get out of here, Bedford's coming."

"Who's this?" Casey asked, looking at Clara.

"This is Clara," Olivia answered quickly "It's a long story."

Casey reached to take Clara who but Clara simply clung to Olivia. Casey knew that it wasn't fair to Fin to ask him to carry Olivia and a toddler "Come here sweetie," she cooed softly. Clara looked curiously in Casey's direction.

"It's okay," Olivia assured her "Casey's my friend, she's really nice." Clara nodded and allowed Casey to take her.

The group left the room and Ruben replaced the deadbolt so that the door was just as they had found it. Keeping low to the floor, they slid along one of the walls, hoping that they wouldn't run into Bedford.

Beyond yet another stack of crates, they saw him. He was headed toward the room they had just come from. All of them, even Clara held their breaths as they inched forward, towards the stairs.

Casey held Clara close to her chest, every once in a while, daring to whisper a comforting word into the child's ear. She just hoped they could get out of there, before Bedford discovered that Olivia and Clara were gone.

**A/N: I'm trying to wrap this story up before Tuesday. I'm not sure I can but I'll try. Until then, everyone please keep reading and reviewing. I love you guys!**


	16. Chapter 16

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 16:**

**A/N: Here's another chapter. I finally got this one written. You guys are so awesome for sticking with me through all of this. I love you reviewers so much! This chapter is for TV Angel 711 in the hopes that the pitchforks will go back into storage… please? LOL**

Fin silently motioned for Casey to go in front of him and Olivia. They all knew they had to move quickly; Bedford had almost reached the door of the room. Thankfully Bedford didn't seem to be paying much attention to his surroundings.

They had managed to get out of the basement when they heard Bedford's loud, angry curse. Casey turned to the others "Run," she whispered as she held tight to Clara and made a mad dash for the car.

When they reached the car, Casey helped Olivia slide into the back seat. Once Olivia was inside, Casey climbed in and ducked down, still holding Clara close. Fin jumped in the driver's seat and Ruben got in on the passenger's side. Almost before Ruben had closed the car door, Fin had peeled out of the parking space.

Three blocks from the warehouse Fin was finally sure that they weren't being followed "I think we did it," he breathed.

The entire car breathed a sigh of relief. Olivia sat up straighter in her seat, allowing her head to be seen through the windows. Casey reached over and helped Olivia buckle her seatbelt. Clara reached out to Olivia once again and Casey let her go willingly. "So," Casey began as she watched Olivia hold the young child close to her with her good arm "What's this little girl's long story?"

Olivia took a deep breath "Clara is Charles Bedford's granddaughter. She's the daughter of Ryan and a girl that we found murdered two years ago."

Casey brought her hand to her mouth "Oh no," she whispered. If this child's legal guardian was in fact Charles Bedford, then they had just committed a kidnapping. Then Casey remembered something; the Bedford family had been mentioned in the news from time to time and while Ryan had sometimes been mentioned and had sometimes appeared in pictures with his parents over the last two years, there had been no mention of a little girl. The wheels in her mind began to turn. The Bedford's obviously hadn't done right by this child. There had to be something that Casey could do.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elliot groaned and opened his eyes. He caught a glance of the clock on the wall and realized that he had been asleep for two hours. He wondered if Casey and the others had found Olivia and then he saw someone sitting by his beside. She was seated in a regular hard plastic hospital chair and her crutches were propped up beside her. She looked exhausted but other than that, no worse than the last time he had seen her. For a moment, he thought he was dreaming. He reached out slowly, almost afraid that if he touched her she would disappear again.

She smiled at him and took his hand in hers "You're awake," she said softly.

"You're really here," he whispered as a smile spread across his face "Oh thank God."

Olivia took a deep breath as her eyes started to mist over "I'm here," she whispered. She scooted closer to the bed "I'm so sorry that-"

Elliot placed a finger over her lips "Don't," he told her firmly but in a voice that was at the same time so full of love that it was clear that he held no ill will towards her for not being able to keep her promise. "I'm just so glad that you're all right."

Olivia leaned closer to kiss him but the sound of tiny shoes on the tile floor of the room pulled both of their attentions in the direction of the door. Clara ran up to Olivia and stood on the floor in front of her.

Casey came up behind her "I'm sorry," she told Olivia even though she didn't look particularly apologetic "I thought maybe she'd feel more at ease if she was with you."

"Uh-huh," Olivia smirked at the look in Casey's eyes. It was painfully obvious that Casey had been spying, waiting for the perfect moment to send Clara into the room.

"I'll just… go…" Casey tried to suppress a chuckle. She backed out of the room quickly waving bye-bye to Clara as she did so.

Clara waved back and turned to Olivia again. She reached her arms up and tried to climb into Olivia's lap. Olivia did her best, with her one available arm, to help her do so.

"Who's that?" Elliot asked, surprised.

"This," Olivia smiled down at Clara who was reaching for one of the sharpies on the table by Elliot's bed "Is Clara."

"Where… when… what…?" Elliot was at a loss for words.

"She's kind of," Olivia paused, searching for the words to tell Elliot that Ryan had had a child or possibly even more shocking, that she had finally found the key piece of evidence in a cold case that still sat at the back of each of their minds.

"Kind of…?" Elliot prompted softly. When Olivia didn't answer right away he spoke again "Olivia…? Where did she come from?"

Olivia cleared her throat, trying to form her thoughts into sentences. At that moment, she was praying for a distraction. She looked down and saw that Clara had managed to uncap the sharpie and had drawn several green squiggles on the cast on Olivia's arm.

When Clara felt Olivia's gaze on her, she looked up guiltily and dropped the sharpie instantly. Her gaze dropped again as tears began to fill her sad blue eyes.

"No, no sweetie," Olivia reassured her softly "I like it," she showed Clara's work to Elliot "Didn't she do a great job?" she asked him.

"Wow," Elliot smiled at Clara "You're quite the little artist," he reached his arms out to Clara who moved slowly towards him.

Olivia smiled when Clara snuggled up beside Elliot "Maybe I should tell Clara to pick up some paper and crayons for her."

Elliot nodded and looked down at Clara. The little girl looked exhausted. Her small mouth opened and a tiny yawn escaped. He ran a hand over her hair "Why don't you go to sleep honey," he whispered. Something about this little girl reminded him of his girls when they had been that age. The only thing was that none of his daughters had ever looked so sad, so lost. He looked back up at Olivia as Clara's eyes drifted closed "Where did she come from?" he asked again.

Olivia sighed, the small distraction had past and now she had to tell him. She took a deep breath and decided to start from the beginning. "When Matheson brought me to the warehouse…"

**A/N: So, I probably won't have this story finished by tonight's episode but I have a plan for it and I promise not to abandon this thing until I've seen it through to the end. I know I kind of had them get out of the warehouse probably a little too easily but like I said, I have a plan and once again, it's far from over. I love you people and I hope you guys don't hate me for not finishing when I said I was going to.**


	17. Chapter 17

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 17:**

**A/N: I told you wonderful people I wasn't gonna forget about this story and I haven't. I love you guys and all of your reviews and so here's chapter 17. You guys rock! I hope you enjoy and as always, I can't wait to see more of your amazing reviews!**

"I can't believe Ryan had a kid," Elliot whispered as he looked down at Clara sleeping soundly beside him. Olivia hadn't yet told him the full story though.

"Charles Bedford killed Clara's mother," she said simply before adding "Her mother was Hannah Davis."

Elliot looked up at her, his mouth hanging open slightly. It made sense though. Clara seemed to be the right age to be Hannah's baby and whoever had murdered Hannah had been able to cover it up really well. Then something occurred to him, one small detail of Hannah's case stood out in his mind. Hannah's rape kit had turned up pieces of wax. The kind that when a candle is lit, drip down and harden around the candle stick "Oh Lord," he whispered. "Ryan saw it happen."

Olivia nodded solemnly. Ryan must have witnessed the mother of his child being murdered and two years later, when he was high and looking for drugs, he acted out that murder again. "Why didn't we see this before?" she asked in a low whisper.

"It's been two years," Elliot reminded her even though he felt stupid for not making the connection before now. "The victims were different ages, we didn't even know that Hannah Davis had any connection to the Bedford family."

Olivia reached forward and stroked the cheek of the sleeping child beside Elliot with her good hand "Poor thing," she whispered. She remembered how frantically they had searched for the baby two years ago. The hospital records said that Hannah had given birth to a baby girl but they hadn't come up with a name. No birth certificate was ever filed. The child had simply vanished off the face of the earth and they had nothing to suggest that she was still out there. After months of searching Olivia and the others had finally given up.

"I gave up on her El," she whispered sadly.

Elliot reached out and touched her face softly, tilting her chin up so that she was looking at him "We all did," he told her firmly. The decision had been one passed down through the ranks and if he remembered correctly, he and Olivia had ignored it at first. He just wanted her to know that she was not alone in her guilt.

Olivia leaned forward and her lips met Elliot's in a gentle kiss "We have to help her," she said quietly.

"We will," Elliot reassured her and he would have kissed her again if Casey hadn't run into the room.

Casey ran straight up to the TV and turned on the news "You guys need to see this," she said breathlessly.

On the screen, a reporter stood on the street, in the far background was a burning building. "Just a few moments ago," the reporter said "The warehouse that was supposed to become the Ryan Bedford center for grief counseling exploded into flames."

Casey and Elliot shared a knowing look while Olivia stared at the screen in horror. If Casey and the others hadn't found her and Clara, they could have been in that fire. She looked down at Clara who was still sound asleep and she knew that she couldn't let anything happen to this little girl.

Elliot knew that he could have easily lost Olivia to that blaze. He reached out a hand and held onto hers tightly as the reporter continued to speak.

"Sources say that Charles Bedford and two of his bodyguards were inside at the time of the explosion. Because of the intense heat of the flames, firefighters aren't letting anyone near the warehouse. Mr. Bedford and his associates are believed dead," the reporter paused and looked into the camera "A tragic end for one of this city's great heroes."

"Hero," Elliot scoffed. Charles Bedford was no hero. He gripped Olivia's hand tighter as the news report continued.

The screen had switched back to the studio "Thank you Rachael," the anchor man said to the reporter in the field "Be careful out there." He turned to the camera and continued "In a related story. Sarah Bedford was scheduled to appear at a charity luncheon today to help raise money for her husband's project."

Olivia remembered what Charles had told her "Sarah won't be appearing anywhere anytime soon," she said morosely.

"What are you talking about Liv?" Elliot asked.

"Charles told me that she killed herself," Olivia whispered but she was finding that harder and harder to believe.

Clara began to stir and her eyes opened. Slowly she sat up and looked around her in confusion. Her eyes rested first on Elliot who was lying beside her in the bed and then on Olivia who sat beside her. Her face showed recognition but not even so much as a smile.

"Hey," Olivia whispered sweetly "Did you have a good nap?"

Clara neither nodded nor shook her head. She didn't say a word. The poor child had been misplaced for the second time in a week. Life with Sarah Bedford hadn't been perfect. Clara was thankfully too young to understand that Sarah thought of her more as a living doll than a person. Clara hadn't liked it there but it was familiar to her. This place wasn't. But somehow in her small childlike, innocent mind she knew that she could trust these people.

Casey stepped forward "Are you hungry Clara?" she asked. Still there was no response one way or another. Casey turned to Olivia "She must be starving. I'll go try and find her something to eat," and just like that, Casey was gone, leaving Elliot, Olivia and Clara in the room alone again.

Elliot looked down at Clara and then back up at Olivia. "What now?" he asked simply.

**A/N: "Now what?" indeed. Is Bedford really dead? What will happen to Clara? Will Olivia and Elliot ever get the chance to be alone for more than a few minutes at a time? All these questions and more will be answered in the next chapter of "I Wanna Come Home". LOL it's late and I'm starting to sound like some TV voice over person from the old days (By the old days I mean the 90s LMAO. I'm sleepy now. Goodnight everybody and don't forget to leave a review. Love ya all!**


	18. Chapter 18

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 18:**

**A/N: I know it took me a little longer than usual to update this but I've been working on some other stuff and I really haven't been on the computer all that much this weekend. So, I finally got time to sit down and hammer out the next chapter. I hope you guys like it. This chapter is for KaydenceRei for helping me figure out a couple of details, some of which will be in this chapter and some others that will be in future chapters.**

Casey walked briskly back to Elliot's room, a cup of sliced bananas in one hand and a box of apple juice in the other. There was no doubt in her mind that Charles Bedford had faked his death. After discovering that Olivia and his granddaughter, who no one outside of his family had known about for years, had disappeared, he probably decided that the best thing to do was to get out of town as soon as possible.

Casey still couldn't help wondering who would collect the sizable insurance policy on the destroyed building. If what Olivia said was true and Sarah Bedford was indeed dead, then Charles had no one else who could collect the money for him. Not to mention the life insurance that Bedford no doubt had. Legally that money should have gone to the nearest living relative, which was Clara. But there was no proof of Clara's kinship to Bedford.

Casey felt for the poor child. She could assume that Charles Bedford wasn't the most loving grandfather. After all, if Bedford truly cared about her, he would have called the police the second he found out that she was missing. Even if he was afraid that it would be discovered that he had Olivia in his basement too, he would still have cared enough to tell someone that his granddaughter was missing, wouldn't he?

Casey entered the room to see Clara sitting on Olivia's lap while Elliot and Olivia sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". Casey smiled to herself. They really were trying to make the child feel comfortable but poor Clara had been through so much in just a few hours. "Hey," Casey cleared her throat softly as she moved closer to the bed. Clara raised a tiny hand and waved slightly at Casey. "Good to see you too little miss Clara," Casey held out the juice box "I hope you like apple juice."

Olivia held Clara while Casey helped the little girl feed herself. When Clara had drank all of the juice and eaten all of the bananas, Casey stood up "We should probably make another attempt at getting home today," she told Olivia. Truthfully, Casey wasn't too eager about leaving the safety of the hospital after their earlier experience but Olivia needed her rest if she was going to heal properly and Clara, who Casey was sure Olivia would want to take home with them instead of hand her off to ACS, needed to be somewhere less confusing to a two year old.

"Okay," Olivia nodded reluctantly. She placed Clara on the bed beside Elliot while she got her crutches.

Casey stepped forward to pick up the little girl "I promise we won't make any unscheduled stops," she said to Elliot, still feeling the guilt weighing heavily on her from earlier. When Casey bent down to pick up Clara, the little girl wrapped her arms around Elliot and wouldn't let go.

"Bye Clara," Elliot told her as he tried to pry her small arms from around his neck "I'll see you tomorrow."

Clara refused to let go, shaking her head vigorously.

Olivia smiled, knowing that they should all be leaving but there was just something so endearing about Clara's stubbornness in this matter. She reached out with her good arm and touched Clara's shoulder gently "We have to go now," she said softly.

Clara only held tighter to Elliot. She turned and looked at Olivia, opening her mouth and uttering the first word that anyone in the room had heard her speak "No."

Olivia was surprised and sank back into the chair. Clara's tiny, beautiful voice was so strong and so defiant in that single syllable. Olivia simply stared at the child. After a few minutes, she turned to Casey "If she's not going, I'm not going," she told her with a smirk.

Casey sighed and turned her eyes towards the ceiling. At that moment, she couldn't tell who was more the child, Olivia or the two year old. Still, she conceded to mob rule. "I'll go see if the nurse can get a cot for you Liv," she told her as she turned and left the room. If Olivia was going to be stubborn, she should at least make sure that she wasn't over exerting herself.

Once Casey had left, Elliot tried once again to remove Clara's strangle hold on him "Don't think that you're always gonna get your way in life because of this," he advised her through a grin as he managed to get her to shift into a sitting position in his lap. He turned to Olivia and his smile broadened "That goes double for you."

Olivia shrugged and simply smiled back at him "Don't look at me, she started it."

Elliot allowed himself to chuckle just a little bit before turning serious "I'm glad that you two will be here tonight."

Olivia nodded "You don't think he's really dead do you?" she asked in a whisper.

"He took out a large insurance policy on that building," Elliot informed her "He was probably planning to burn it all along."

Olivia nodded again then something occurred to her "How is he going to collect on it if he's dead?"

Elliot shrugged "I have no idea." Deep down, Elliot suspected that Charles Bedford would find a way.

Casey returned a few minutes later with a nurse in tow. The nurse was wheeling a folding cot "We just can't seem to get rid of you," the nurse smiled warmly at Olivia as she set the cot up beside Elliot's bed. This particular nurse had seen Elliot and Olivia cuddling on more than one occasion and knew that they were very close.

"Thanks," Olivia smiled at the nurse when she was settled on the cot.

The nurse smiled down at Clara "I want all of you to get some rest," she advised before turning and leaving the room.

"I'll be back in the morning," Casey gave Olivia a quick hug and turned to leave when Clara stood up in Elliot's lap.

"Hug me too?" she asked softly, almost nervously.

Casey smiled at Clara "Sure," she bent down and gave the little girl a gentle embrace. She straightened up and turned to Olivia again "I'll bring you a change of clothes."

"Thanks Casey," Olivia smiled tiredly and Casey left.

Olivia rolled onto her side to face Elliot. She watched as Clara sat comfortably in his lap. The child seemed to be relaxed "You're a natural," she told Elliot in a soft voice.

"You are too," he responded with a grin as he pressed the button on his bed that lowered it so that he was lying down as well.

Clara climbed off of Elliot and onto the cot where Olivia was. She snuggled up next to her and yawned.

"I'm feeling totally useless right now," Olivia admitted.

"The casts are only temporary," Elliot said quickly "Don't worry, once you have the use of your arm and leg back it'll be much easier."

"It's not that," Olivia admitted as she heard Clara's breathing evening out. "It's just… I've never thought about taking care of a child long term before."

"Long term?" Elliot knew he sounded more surprised than he wanted to. The truth was that he had become very much attached to Clara in the short time that he had known her. More so than any other child who had passed through his life because of his job. Maybe it was because she was Ryan's child or maybe it was because she was Hannah Davis's or maybe it was because Charles Bedford had seemingly abandoned her in that basement with Olivia. He wasn't sure what the reason was but he felt an instant connection with this child.

"She's got no one El," Olivia said softly, staring down at the sleeping toddler. "I wanna take care of her. I love her."

Elliot nodded "We'll make it work," he promised her.

"Thanks," Olivia said as she tried to suppress a yawn. "Goodnight Elliot."

"Goodnight Liv," Elliot whispered "Love you."

"Love you too," Olivia whispered back as her eyes drifted closed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next morning, Casey came through the door of the room with an arm load of bags. She was followed closely by Munch and Fin who were also carrying bags. Casey set a duffle bag on the foot of Olivia's cot. "Good morning," she smiled at Olivia who was sitting up with Clara in her lap.

"Hi," Olivia smiled and Clara waved at everyone.

Casey unzipped the bag and showed Olivia everything she had brought for her. There were two changes of clothes, a tooth brush, mouth wash, shampoo, deodorant. "I hope I didn't forget anything," she shrugged.

Olivia laughed "Doesn't look like it," she turned her attention to the many shopping bags that Casey had just set down. "What is all of this stuff?" she asked.

"Well," Casey smiled "I remembered what you were telling me yesterday and thought I'd pick some stuff up for Clara."

Olivia nodded. As far as she knew, all of Clara's clothes had gone up in smoke along with the warehouse and even when Olivia was there, she hadn't seen a single toy for the child to play with. "Thanks," she said simply as Casey began to unpack the bags.

Casey had possibly gone overboard on purchasing adorable little outfits. She spread out dresses with bright patterns, pretty shirts, denim jumpers and several different colors of sweat pants.

Elliot looked over and whistled "Wow that's a lot of clothes," he murmured.

"Casey," Olivia said softly "You really didn't need to…" all of those clothes had to have been expensive.

"Don't worry about it," Casey told her firmly.

Munch stepped forward, pulling a stuffed monkey out of the bag he was holding "I picked this out especially for you," he said to Clara who simply stared in amazement at the stuffed animal.

Clara reached one tiny hand out slowly and stroked the monkey's fur. She reached out with both arms and pulled it close to her. She smiled up at Munch, too shy to say thank you.

"He got it because it reminds him of himself," Fin murmured "It has a boney…"

"Fin," everyone in the room with the exception of Clara reprimanded at the same time.

"You'd better not finish that sentence in present company," Olivia laughed.

Fin's shoulders momentarily slumped. He quickly recovered and reached into the bag he was holding "Every kid needs a teddy bear," he said as he handed the bear to Clara.

As if the little girl's arms weren't full enough with two stuffed animals, Casey reached into one of the bags at the foot of the cot and pulled out a stuffed unicorn. "Here you go sweetie," she smiled.

Elliot laughed a little bit "I hope you don't have too many more of those," he said as he looked at Clara who was nearly hidden behind the three stuffed animals as it was.

"That's all for now," Casey grinned mischievously. "I also bought crayons and paper for her," she said taking the box of crayons and the art paper from the bag.

"Wow," Olivia murmured and she looked down at Clara "This is great isn't it?"

Clara nodded and for the first time since Olivia had met her, she saw the child smile genuinely.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The dark car drove down the tree lined avenue. It pulled into the driveway of an innocuous looking house and three men got out. All three were wearing hooded sweatshirts. One walked in front of the other two. He was thinking about all he had left behind. All the things he had lost because of two people. He wouldn't allow them to go on breathing much longer if he could help it. He had to be in hiding for now but he would find a way to exact his revenge, he swore it.

**A/N: So I promised that all those burning questions would be answered in this chapter but you might have to wait a few more chapters for all the answers. Especially the one about Elliot and Olivia having some alone time. I love you people and I'll try not to take so long with the next update.**


	19. Chapter 19

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 19:**

**A/N: I told you guys I wouldn't forget about this one and now that alerts are back up and working, I thought that I'd celebrate by updating. This chapter is for absolutely everyone who has read and reviewed. I love you guys so much! You have no idea how happy it makes me to read all of your wonderful reviews.**

Clara sat cross legged on the foot of Elliot's bed. Casey had dressed her in a light pick shirt and a denim jumper. Her hair was pulled back in pigtails. Elliot smiled at her as she made long broad strokes across the pad of paper in her lap with first one crayon and then the next.

Olivia sat in the chair next to Elliot's bed once again, the cot that she had slept on the night before folded up and sitting in the corner. Both detectives sat watching Clara closely. This little girl was so precious. They had been watching her in this manner for thirty minutes already and strangely enough, Clara had just been content to sit and draw, not your typical two year old behavior.

"You know," Olivia said reluctantly "I should probably get back to my apartment sometime in the next few days. I should be back at work on desk duty by the end of the week."

"I thought you were supposed to be taking it easy," Elliot shot her what was meant as a stern look but the crooked smile made it's way through nonetheless.

"For me," Olivia replied "Desk duty is easy."

Elliot nodded and looked at Clara again. The child was admiring her drawing "What did you draw?" Elliot asked her.

Clara looked up but didn't say anything. She picked up the pad of paper and turned it to face Elliot, using it to hide her face.

"Oh that's very nice," Elliot smiled warmly. To him, the picture simply looked like a bunch of different colored squiggly lines but they were very pretty squiggly lines.

Clara allowed her eyes to peer over the top of the paper and she stared at Elliot curiously as if to say 'Do you really like it?' Clara had never heard a kind word directed at her in her short life. Sarah Bedford's living doll was never supposed to be out of place in any way.

Olivia smiled, leaning closer "Wow," she said softly "I like that a lot Clara."

Clara lowered the pad a little more until her entire face was visible. She ripped the piece of paper off of the pad and handed it to Elliot.

"For me?" Elliot asked, smiling at the innocence of this little girl.

Clara nodded and pointed first at him and then at Olivia "Both," she said softly.

"It's for both of us?" Olivia asked, reaching out to hug Clara with her good arm.

Clara nodded and moved closer to Olivia.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"She's such a little angel," Olivia smiled, looking down at Clara who had fallen asleep beside Elliot. It seemed that even a day of drawing and being sung to was enough to tire the little girl out.

Elliot looked up at Olivia "Do you really have to leave tomorrow?" he asked. It was obvious from the way that he said it and the look in his eyes that he was beyond concerned.

Olivia closed her eyes, she would love nothing more than to spend the rest of Elliot's hospital stay by his side and in truth she thought she might be able to get away with it but something inside her told her that she just had to get back into the daily routine. Still, her heart told her not to leave Elliot's side if she could help it. She took a deep breath "I'll talk to Cragen and see if I can stay through the weekend."

Elliot picked up the paper on the bedside table. He had been looking at it earlier when Casey had taken Olivia for a walk to get coffee and had forgotten about it until now. He pointed to the article on the front page "They never found Bedford's remains," he said solemnly. They hadn't found any human remains at all not even bones which, according to the article, would have survived the blaze.

Olivia nodded, placing her hand on Elliot's arm. She looked down at Clara worriedly "He's still out there," she whispered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Charles Bedford stood at a small wooden table in the basement of his Connecticut hideout. His two bodyguards stood nearby. The first problem was how to collect on not only the insurance policy for the warehouse but also on Bedford's life insurance.

"Doesn't the money go to your granddaughter?" one of the bodyguards, Jax Blaze, asked.

"There is no way that little bastard child will ever get a cent of anything I have," Bedford sounded incredibly bitter for a moment. Truthfully, if Sarah hadn't thought that the baby was so cute, he would have dumped her along side her mother's body and let her freeze to death.

"Then what are we supposed to do boss?" the other bodyguard, Zack Stone, questioned. Zack was more on edge than Jax was about this subject. Both men had been promised a cut of the money but Zack was the one who needed it more desperately. He had several debts to pay off if he didn't want his loan shark's goons coming to break every bone in his body. Bedford hadn't been the only one to benefit from faking his own death. Zack was going to pretend to be dead as long as he could but just in case the ruse failed, he wanted to have the money available to save his ass.

"Don't worry," Bedford said evenly "I'll think of something."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Casey came into the room holding a pair of purple footy pajamas. She smiled at Clara who sat on the bed next to Elliot, playing with the stuffed animals "Hi," Casey said to Clara.

Clara looked up and grinned. "Hi," she said back.

Olivia took this opportunity to look at the clock "Oh," she gasped "I didn't know it had gotten so late," like Elliot, she had been swept away by Clara's never ending charm. She looked back down at Clara "You should go with aunt Casey and get ready for bed."

Clara nodded and slid off the bed. She took Casey's hand and the two of them walked into the bathroom. A few minutes later, Clara ran out of the bathroom completely naked and crying. Casey followed after her looking white as a ghost.

Clara huddled underneath Olivia's chair, hugging her knees to her chest.

Olivia looked at Casey questioningly "What happened Casey?" she asked worriedly.

"I don't know why I didn't notice it this morning," Casey whispered, needing to sit down on the edge of the bed for fear that she might fall over otherwise "She… down there she's been… there are… bruises. I dropped the pajamas on the floor and she bent over to get them for me and… Olivia, someone… They looked like old bruises but… someone," Casey couldn't even say it. She took another shuddering breath "I asked her about it and…"

Elliot put a soothing hand on Casey's shoulder. Truthfully, he couldn't handle this either but he and Olivia needed to be strong. This was their job, this was the kind of thing they dealt with day in and day out.

Olivia looked down underneath the chair she was sitting on "Oh my God," she whispered as tears stung her eyes.

**A/N: Oh, poor Clara. Is anyone in this story ever going to be happy? Stay tuned and please don't kill me. Remember, I love you guys.**


	20. Chapter 20

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 20:**

**A/N: So, it's been quite a long time since I updated this but I was looking through my stories as I do from time to time and I realized that my most reviewed story wasn't even completed. So I decided to keep going with it. So sit back, take a deep breath and let me transport you back in time, back to a time before Elliot made the mistake of knocking Kathy up. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. This chapter is dedicated to Ahava96 who keeps reading all of my unfinished works and reminding me about them but has so far not found this one.**

Olivia managed to get herself off of the chair and onto the floor. She stared with sad eyes at Clara. As if this child hadn't been through enough. It broke Olivia's heart to think that anyone could hurt this precious child. She felt a gentle tap on her shoulder and looked up to see Elliot, holding the pajamas. He lowered himself from the bed until he was sitting on the floor beside Olivia "Are you sure you should be out of bed?" she asked softly.

Elliot looked at Clara, huddled underneath the chair "Yeah, I'm sure," he answered in a hoarse whisper. He reached forward, holding out the pajamas to Clara "Aren't you cold?" he asked.

Clara looked up at him with watery blue eyes and nodded.

Elliot reached out to her "One leg at a time," he instructed.

Clara obliged and once she was dressed in the fuzzy purple PJs, she retreated back under the chair.

Olivia and Elliot shared a sad look before Olivia turned back to Clara "Hey," she began softly "Why don't you come out of there and we'll sing a song."

Clara shook her head.

Casey had returned to the room after calling Cragen to tell him what had happened "He's coming down himself," she told them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elliot and Olivia had finally coaxed Clara from underneath the chair by the time that Cragen arrived. Elliot held the trembling child in his arms as he sat on the bed. Olivia was sitting beside him, running her hand comfortingly over the child's hair.

Cragen saw this scene and it nearly broke his heart. He bent down so that he was eye level with the little girl, who looked at him with large, curious eyes "Hi," he said softly "I brought you something."

That seemed to spark Clara's interest even more and she watched as Cragen pulled from behind his back, a stuffed lion. She reached out and took it into her arms. She had several other stuffed animals but for some reason, she liked this one best. "Thank you," she whispered, burying her face in the lion's mane.

Cragen looked up at Elliot and Olivia. He took a deep breath before he let out the words he knew would be the clincher to this situation "Pediatrics is prepared to do a rape kit."

Olivia looked down at Clara. She was so young. Olivia felt tears in her eyes and ran the back of her good hand over them. She knew it had to be done.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Olivia leaned against the side of the bed in which Clara lay. The small child had been sedated to prevent her from being traumatized any further. With her good hand, Olivia stroked the little girl's soft hair "I'm right here," she whispered while the nurses began the examination.

Elliot had wanted to be there too but his doctor had forbidden it, saying that he shouldn't have been up and moving around at all or he could risk aggravating his injuries. Before Olivia had left to go with Clara to the examination room, he had wrapped his arms around both of them, telling Olivia how he desperately wanted to be there for both of them.

And as Olivia heard the nurses talking about genital bruising and tearing of the hymen, she wished with all her heart that he could be there. She had been present as rape kits were preformed on countless little girls and it always tore her heart into tiny pieces. This time it took everything in her not to break down into a quivering, sobbing mess.

Clara moaned softly through the haze of drugs that were being pumped into her tiny body. Olivia bent closer "Shhhhh," she whispered "It's okay sweetie, I'm right here and I'm not gonna leave you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

When Clara's tiny body had finally processed all of the sedatives that had been given to her for the purposes of the rape kit and the nurses had deemed that there was no longer any danger of her suffering any ill effects, Olivia took her back to Elliot's hospital room.

Elliot looked up and gave her a sad smile "How did it go?" he asked, already knowing from the look in Olivia's eyes that it was bad.

The nurse, who had helped Olivia by carrying Clara, lay the sleeping child on the bed beside Elliot and left the room to afford them some privacy. Olivia nodded her thanks to her as she left before sinking onto the now, unfolded cot.

"She doesn't deserve to have been hurt like that," she whispered "No child does, but┘ I can't believe that someone would┘" tears spilled over and poured down her cheeks "They found little pieces of wax in the rape kit," she said quietly.

Elliot looked down at the small girl beside him "God," he whispered. Someone, most likely Bedford, had decided to violate this precious girl the same way that her mother had been violated.

"The bruises," Olivia continued, wanting nothing less than the ability to travel back in time and prevent this from ever happening "Her pelvic bone is fractured, he did it so hard," she crumpled onto the cot "How could he, how could anyone┘?"

Elliot leaned down and brushed his lips across Olivia's "The important thing is that she's safe now."

Olivia nodded "But is that enough?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"I'm not gonna let them find me," Zack Stone said angrily, pushing his boss up against the wall of the basement "I need that money now. I need to disappear, get out of the country, before they can find me."

"You'll get your money," Bedford told him calmly even though he secretly feared this man and all of his bodyguards for that matter.

"You've been saying that!" Zack screamed as he drew back a fist "But you haven't got a plan!" he was about to punch Bedford when his hand was snatched in mid air.

"If the boss says he has a plan," Jax said evenly, squeezing Zack's fist tight "Then he's got a plan," he pulled his colleague away from his employer "I suggest you go take a breather."

"You don't understand," Zack appealed to his friend "These people mean business. I need that money now or they'll break my legs."

"I'll do a lot worse to you if you don't chill," Jax threatened and Zack's shoulders slumped as he withdrew into a corner like a reproachful child.

Jax turned his attention to Bedford "So what is this plan of yours?" he asked.

Bedford took a deep breath "Nadine will meet us here in a few days. I named her my heir after Sarah killed herself."

Jax nodded. Nadine Hancock was Bedford's secretary and had been Jax's lover for many years. In fact, it had been Jax who had introduced Bedford to Nadine. Jax smirked inwardly "So Nadine is bringing all the money here?" he asked. When Bedford nodded, Jax knew that everything in his life was falling into place.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Casey entered the hospital room early the next morning. She hadn't expected anyone to be awake yet but she smiled when she saw Olivia sitting up on the cot, looking over at Elliot and Clara who were still sound asleep. Casey took a seat beside Olivia on the cot "How are they doing?" she asked softly.

Olivia turned in Casey's direction "Better, I think," she replied.

Casey nodded "She's so young," she observed of Clara sorrowfully "I wish I'd noticed those bruises sooner."

"I don't think it would have made any difference," Olivia said, turning her gaze to her lap "All we can do now is be here for her."

"Yeah," Casey patted her friend's shoulder and smiled "So are you gonna go home today?"

"I got a chance to talk to Cragen last night while they were preparing Clara for the kit," Olivia paused for a moment and closed her eyes "He told me that I shouldn't come back to work until I'm absolutely sure I'm ready," she looked over at the sleeping child "It might be a while before I can so much as look at another case file."

At that moment, Elliot stretched slightly and groaned. He opened his eyes and smiled at Olivia "Good morning," he said in a groggy voice.

"Morning yourself," Olivia replied with a half hearted grin.

Elliot's sleepy eyes then noticed Casey "Hey," he smiled warmly at her "Awful early for you to be here isn't it?"

Casey laughed "Well that might be the warmest welcome I've ever received from anyone," she said sarcastically. She stood up and looked back at Olivia "I'm gonna go to the cafeteria, want me to bring you something."

"Yeah, oatmeal and a bottle of orange juice if you don't mind," Olivia smiled gratefully.

"Sure thing," Casey turned to Elliot "And for you Mr. Manners?"

Elliot laughed "Same thing please."

Casey smiled down at him "You got it," she looked at Clara who had started to wake up "As long as I'm taking breakfast orders┘"

Clara sat up and smiled at Casey, obviously holding no ill will towards her for the night before "Nanas?" she asked in a tiny voice.

Casey's smile widened "Bananas it is," she turned and left, still smiling.

Olivia reached out to the little girl who effortlessly slid into her arms "How are you doing this morning sweetheart?" she asked, holding the child close.

Clara let out a little yawn before she responded "Good, Mama."

**A/N: I'm not quite sure what possessed me to have Clara call Olivia 'Mama' now. It seemed only natural that she would refer to Olivia that way eventually but now seemed like a good time considering how upset Olivia is about what happened to Clara. Hope you all enjoyed. I know I've probably lost most of my readers in the months since I've updated but I'd love to hear from any of you even if you hate me now.**


	21. Chapter 21

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 21:**

**A/N: I'm so glad I started this story up again. I hope you like the direction I am taking it.**

A woman with long black hair stepped out of a baby blue Toyota. She lifted a briefcase off of the passenger seat and pulled a loaded revolver out from under the driver seat before walking up the steps of the Connecticut home. She wrapped three times on the door and soon after it opened. She greeted the man by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him passionately "Jax," she swooned in a lilting Irish accent "I've missed you so much my darling."

He smiled down at her "It's good to see you too my love. Do you have it?"

"Enough to make Zack happy," she smiled, indicating the briefcase "And," she tapped the revolver "Something to make sure my ever so trusting boss can't interfere with our plans," the smile disappeared from her face "But Jax, there's a problem. We'll need to talk."

"Nadine," Jax began "You know I love you."

The smile returned to Nadine's lips "Of course my darling," she laughed "That's not what we need to talk about. The old fool never checked Sarah's will or her life insurance policy. He never thought that she wouldn't trust him with the family money."

Jax heard voices and footsteps. Zack and Bedford were coming up from the basement "We'll talk later," he whispered, pulling her inside "Once we've handled the problem at hand."

Nadine nodded, stroking the revolver. She made sure the silencer was secure. She stayed beyond Jax as he walked into the main room of the house where Bedford stood.

"Was that Nadine?" Bedford questioned.

"No," Jax lied as Nadine cocked the hammer and peered around her boyfriend's shoulder.

"What did you tell them?" Bedford sounded nervous. He thought he was about to be discovered. Little did he know that Jax and Nadine were about to make sure that there was no way that they could be accused of fraud, for his life insurance policy at least.

"I told them what you told me to tell them," Jax said and stepped aside, revealing Nadine, with the revolver at the ready.

"You can burn in hell you bastard," she said angrily, trying to keep tears from her voice as she fired five shots into his body.

Bedford's eyes widened in shock and betrayal for only the briefest of moments before his body fell limp and lifeless on the floor.

Zack stared at his companions fearfully. He raised his hands as he dropped to his knees "Please," he begged "Please, don't…"

Nadine lowered the revolver and handed it to Jax as she stepped forward, holding the briefcase in front of her. She knelt on the floor before Zack as he tears slid down the young man's cheeks "No one's going to hurt you," she smiled as she opened the briefcase "Eighty thousand dollars, enough to pay your debts and give you a fresh start," she closed the case again and handed it to him "Keep in touch."

She stood up and returned to stand beside Jax. Zack smiled at them both as he got off of the floor "Thank you," he said as he swiftly left the house, afraid of what would happen if he stayed much longer."

Jax swept Nadine into a hug "You were magnificent," he told her.

"I know," she smiled and kissed him "So were you."

He set her down "What were you saying about Sarah's will?" he asked as he took her hand and they left the house, walking to her car.

"She had control over most of the family money," Nadine explained, though Jax knew this already "And she left it to her granddaughter."

Jax let out a low whistle "That kid can't even count and already she's a millionaire."

"She's not exactly," Nadine explained "Her legal guardians have control over her money until she's eighteen."

"And who are her legal guardians?" Jax asked with a knowing smile.

"No one yet," Nadine smirked "But it's gonna be us soon enough."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Elliot smiled at Olivia "She just called you Mama," he observed.

Olivia nodded, using her good hand to wipe away the moisture from her eyes "Yeah," she smiled softly "She did, didn't she?"

Elliot smiled down at Clara "You couldn't have picked a better woman for the job," he told her.

Clara looked up at him and smiled quietly. Her young mind hadn't understood what he had just said but she knew that she liked and trusted him.

Casey returned to the room then, carrying a tray with all of their breakfasts on it. She set the tray on the table and passed the food out to everyone before taking a seat in a nearby chair. She held her coffee in both hands and leaned forward, noticing the beaming expressions on Elliot and Olivia's faces, she smiled as well "What did I miss?" she asked.

"Clara called me Mama," Olivia replied in a whisper.

Casey's smile widened "That's great," she said as she leaned back in her chair and took a sip of the bitter, hospital coffee.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You guys are going to spoil her," Olivia laughed as Munch and Fin entered that afternoon with arms laden down with shopping bags.

"I never had kids of my own," Munch said with a hint of regret behind his smile "So can't I at least spoil this little cutie?"

"Alright," Olivia conceded "Just make sure that you leave some of the spoiling for us to do when we get out of here."

Fin set one of the bags down and pulled out a small blanket. He shook it out, revealing the many Disney characters that pranced across it "From what you said," he began "I don't think they ever gave her a baby blanket or anything like that," he draped the blanket around Clara's shoulders "There you go kiddo."

"Thank you," Clara said quietly.

Munch pulled a doll out of another bag "This was a real find," he told everyone.

"You should have seen him," Fin chuckled "He was so particular about it."

The doll had a pale complexion and long black hair. Munch held the doll out to Clara and she shrank away from it at first, pulling the blanket all the way over her head. After a little while she peeked out, realizing the doll was only a doll. She reached out and took it, carefully. She held it at arms length.

"That's a pretty doll," Olivia remarked "What are you gonna name her?"

Clara shook her head and looked away from the doll. Finally, she whispered "Nadine."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We'll be rich my love," Nadine smiled at Jax. They had stopped at a quaint café in Rhode Island for a bite to eat. They both sat on the same side of one booth.

"Yeah," Jax said, leaning down to kiss her "But what will we do about the kid? I'm not the fatherly type you know."

"Don't worry," Nadine smiled softly, pressing yet another kiss to her lover's lips "You don't have to be. Once we're named her legal guardians, the money is ours. There isn't much reason to keep her around is there?" she chuckled softly.

Jax nodded though he felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He pushed his food away from him "You want to kill a kid?" he asked in a shocked whisper.

"Darling," Nadine smiled gently, running her hands through his hair as she brought her lips within millimeters of his "If you can't do what needs to be done for us to be happy then tell me now."

Jax looked into her eyes "I would do anything for you," he said quietly "But… I could learn to be the fatherly type, I really could."

"Oh, my love," Nadine kissed him, running her tongue along his teeth before pulling away "One day, we will have our own children. We don't need the bastard granddaughter of that fool," she turned her head "Well, we'll only need her for a little while. We're going to be rich," she told him "We, are going, to be, happy. And no one will be able to take that away from us."

Jax took her hand in his where it rested on his lap "I'm with you."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Bed time," Casey grinned as she walked into the room and smiled at the slowly forming little family in front of her.

Clara slid off the bed where she had been sitting, playing patty cake with Elliot while Olivia, who could only use one hand properly, watched. "Casey!" the little girl squealed happily as she ran into Casey's arms.

"Hey there," Casey grinned "You having fun?"

Clara nodded "Daddy teach me," she said, clapping her hands and doing her best to remember all the words.

Casey set Clara down and looked over at her friends "Daddy?" she asked with an ever widening smile on her face.

Elliot and Olivia shared a look that could only be explained as pure joy "Yeah," Elliot replied "She just sort of started calling me that."

Casey picked Clara up again "We'll be right back," she said as she carried the little girl into the bathroom. They emerged minutes later with Clara dressed in a pair of light blue pajamas with the little mermaid on the front.

Casey set Clara down on the bed with Elliot again "I told her that we'd have to watch the movie sometime," Casey said, patting the little girl on the head.

"We can all watch it as soon as Elliot gets out of the hospital," Olivia smiled at Clara.

Clara bounced up and down on the bed happily.

"I'll be back in the morning," Casey said as she turned to leave.

"Wait Casey," Olivia stood up and grabbed her crutches "Can we talk?"

"Sure," Casey said and the two women walked out into the hallway.

Olivia leaned against the wall "You don't need to come back tomorrow," she said kindly.

"I know," Casey smiled "But I want to. That is, unless you're sick of me," she laughed lightly.

"Of course not," Olivia assured her "But why are you helping us so much."

"That's what friends do Liv," Casey said, a little confused. "Everyone's been coming by to help out."

"But not like you," Olivia stated "You do things for us that the nurses would be happy to do. Why?"

"Because," Casey said simply, turning away "If it wasn't for me…"

"If it wasn't for you," Olivia stepped forward shakily, putting her good arm around her friend's shoulders "Clara probably would have died in that warehouse fire. If Matheson hadn't taken me there, I would have never known about her."

Casey turned and enveloped her in a hug as she started to cry "I still feel guilty," she whispered.

"You don't have to," Olivia whispered back.


	22. Chapter 22

**I Wanna Come Home**

**Chapter 22:**

**A/N: This story has taken so many turns, I can barely keep up with myself. I hope you guys like this chapter. Thank you to all of my many readers and reviewers.**

Early the next morning, Olivia awoke to see Clara sitting up and staring straight ahead at something with fear in her little face. Olivia followed Clara's line of sight to see the doll that Fin had bought her, the one she had named Nadine. The doll lay on the floor and Clara made no effort to retrieve it.

Olivia sat up and pulled the little girl close to her "What's wrong, sweetie?" she asked, rubbing the little girl's back.

Clara pointed at the doll "Nadine, bad," she whispered, nuzzling as close to Olivia as was humanly possibly.

"Oh," Olivia whispered understandingly. She didn't quite understand although it was clear that Clara seemed to be afraid of the doll for some reason. Olivia resolved to talk to Fin about possibly returning it and getting one that looked different.

"It's alright," Olivia soothed "The doll can't hurt you." Clara refused to look at the doll and continued to hold tight to Olivia. Olivia managed to maneuver her good leg into position to kick the doll under the cot.

Casey snuck into the room about half an hour later. She saw Clara and Olivia already awake and opened her mouth to speak. Olivia put a finger to her lips, using her other hand to indicate the still sleeping Elliot. Casey nodded and came to sit beside Olivia on the cot "How are you guys this morning?" she asked in a whisper.

Clara shook her head "Nadine bad."

"What?" Casey asked.

"Something about her doll," Olivia said softly in Casey's ear.

Elliot moaned and opened his eyes. He looked over to the cot, noticing Casey sitting there with Olivia and Clara "Good morning everybody," he said flatly.

"Good morning yourself," Olivia huffed but she couldn't help laughing just the same.

"Morning," Clara slid cautiously off the cot and made her way into Elliot's lap.

Elliot smiled at the little girl and hugged her gently. He couldn't wait to get out of the hospital and get on with his life. He, Olivia and Clara would be a family.

"I'm going on a breakfast run," Casey said, standing up "Tell me what you want now or you don't get anything."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Casey took good care of them while Elliot remained in the hospital, Olivia and Clara insisted on staying by his side day in and day out. Munch, Fin, Cragen and Huang came to visit whenever they could. And Fin bought Clara a different doll, one that she was not afraid of.

When the time came for the newly formed little family to go home, they piled into a car and Casey drove them to Olivia's apartment. That first night was spent playing with Clara, laughing and watching Disney movies. Real life didn't strike until it was time for bed.

Clara had a small bed in the corner of Olivia's bedroom and while it was more her own than the cot she had shared with Olivia at the hospital, both Olivia and Elliot wished they could give her more.

Six weeks later, two casts removed and a lot of perusing of the real estate section of the newspaper and they moved into a bigger apartment together, one where Clara had her own room.

"You have no idea how good it feels not to have those damned things on anymore," Olivia remarked as she emerged from the bathroom wearing sweat pants and an old t-shirt.

Elliot smiled and moved over on the bed, allowing her room to stretch out beside him. "I think I have an idea," he laughed, pulling her close to him.

Olivia sighed contentedly. She nuzzled against Elliot's neck "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he smiled, kissing the crown of her head.

At that moment, Clara came bounding into the room. She jumped into bed with Elliot and Olivia and tried her best to nuzzle in between them.

"What's wrong sweetie?" Olivia asked, sitting up and holding Clara in her arms.

"Monster," Clara said, hiding her face in Olivia's shirt "Can't sleep."

"Well," Olivia said, smiling faintly "Let's go see what we can do about that." She got up and took Clara by the hand and led her back to her room.

The two of them stopped at the door. Olivia could feel the cool night air coming from the window. She flipped on the light and saw a face in the window. She froze, for a moment her lips couldn't form words. The person in the window seemed frozen in time as well. Olivia gasped for air at that same moment the face in the window disappeared and time started moving again "Elliot!" Olivia screamed at the top of her lungs.

Elliot was at her side in seconds "What happened?" he asked. He glanced around the room and noticed the opened window.

"There was someone there," Olivia pointed as she retrieved a now crying Clara from the floor and held her close.

"Elliot already had his cell phone in his hand. He looked at Olivia as she cradled Clara in her arms, attempting to soothe her. He couldn't let anything happen to them, not after everything they had gone through to get this far.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You aren't supposed to kidnap the girl," Nadine said angrily. She walked circles around Jax and stared at him disapprovingly "I told you to leave this part up to me."

"But it would have been so easy," Jax told her "If the kid has all that money then her legal guardians have access to it. We could just ransom her and then we wouldn't have to spend all this time jumping through hoops."

"They aren't her legal guardians yet," Nadine spat venomously "They're court date is on Friday. I'm going to challenge them for custody of the girl."

"Why?" Jax asked "Why not just hold her for ransom once they become her legal guardians. Then everyone can live happily ever after. We won't have to do any killing."

"How could you be so naïve?" Nadine slapped him across the face "They're cops. A ransom demand will never work. And now they're onto us."

"I wore gloves," Jax defended.

"That doesn't matter, anything you might have left behind could be used against you," Nadine was furious "Even a piece of your hair."

She turned and retrieved something from her bag "You've become a liability Jax. I can't afford to keep you around anymore." She turned back towards him, keeping something hidden behind her back. She wrapped her other arm around his neck and kissed him "I love you darling but I think it's time we go our separate ways."

Jax was so distracted by the kiss and her words that he didn't even notice when she brought the gun out from behind her back. His lips were already forming a reply, a reassurance that he loved her as well when the bullet ripped a whole right between his eyes.


End file.
